Brave New World: The Summit
by ALearningMan
Summary: Across the continent, nations are receiving an invitation to a summit hosted by the Sorcerer King, with some looking to this as a possibility for peace, others seem to think there is more to this summit than meets the eye, how will these nations react when faced with the existence that is Ainz Ooal Gown!
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Hello everyone, I'm relatively new to the world of Fan Fics and this being my first one I imagine it will have some mistakes and inconstancies, so reviews and comments are extremely helpful. I've been pretty influenced by atheistbasementdragon and some of the other fantastic writers here on Overlord, and I hope to contribute even a little of to that so let me know your thoughts and more importantly enjoy.**

**Chapter 1**

Jircniv awoke from a rather pleasant dream, his eyes roaming over the woman sleeping next to him, a slight smile forming as she slept peacefully. He had enjoyed many things in life, but an an emperor he knew from an early age he would have to wed the women who would most secure his seat of power, and play the role of empress next to him, as his mother and father had done before him and theirs before them. But all that changed a short number of years ago, and as Jircniv thought of the being which was his master, he couldn't help but smile more. Now he was free to wed any whom he chose, as his master had told him "To rule beside someone you do not love is to rule with an empty heart, and that is but a disservice to those you rule." He had immediately chosen to wed a women whom had been in his harem for quite a while, with an intellect which rivaled his own, while she was not very beautiful, she made him very happy.

'_Had I truly known life would turn out like this, I would of surrendered the very second I arrived in that grand tomb'_

A soft chuckle left his lips as he took a robe and moved towards the ornate double doors which led from his bed chambers. The doors, he had commissioned to resemble even a little of that grand domain which his master inhabited, they depicted a simple scene, a maiden on one side and a knight on the other, with contrasting colours of black and white, each complemented with etchings of gold. Jircniv had tried to recreate those bastians which led to the throne room of the Great Tomb of Nazarick but none of the artists he had brought could so much as grasp the image, much less recreate it. Thus he settled on this, a slight reminder to him that he would never compete with such a being and perhaps for the better.

As the doors opened, a nearby maid quickly approached and knelt

"How may I serve you your majesty?"

"Draw me a bath, and then you may tend to the empress when she wakes"

"It will be done, your grace."

As she left quickly to execute his orders, Jircniv simply walked forward as a leisurely pace.

Jircniv walk forward, admiring the art which decorated the corridor to his bath, this was but a small portion, hanging all over the palace now were beautiful paintings and works of art which were part of the empire's "renaissance" as his master called it. Ever since he began using the undead his master loaned as a workforce, his people had experience growth like never before seen in the history of the empire. As more people left the farm, his cities boomed, talents for music, arts, and heroics were spawning up everywhere within the domains of the Sorcerous Kingdom, with life no longer orienting around the planting and the farm, people could educate themselves a venture made easy with the creation of the university system.

In the beginning the costs made the venture for such facilities unattractive, but with the urging of his master he chose to invest his own coin into the construction and preparation of the universities, and asked in return that they share 30 percent of what profits they made for a period of 10 years as recompense for his investment, and truly did it pay off. Jircniv now was more wealthy than he had ever been and with another suggestion from his master he chose to re-invest that wealth into his kingdom, building new orphanages, public buildings, and parks as well as placing extra labour into the "highway" project his master was undertaking and loaning more undead for simple tasks, now Artwintar was a metropolis which hosted almost twice the populus it had a mear 5 years ago.

Another strange yet wildly successful decree by the Sorcerer King was creation of the "Post Office" a system to exchanging messages and packages throughout the entire domain, a system which baffled his entire staff at its simplicity and effectiveness, and with this, came the requirement that ordinary citizen be taught how to read and write, something which the majority took with unexpected grace. These reforms in turn have made the "Bloody Emperor" and his empress extremely popular, a holiday was even created to commemorate the vassalization of the Baharuth Empire into the Sorcerous Kingdom.

Jircniv thought of all these things as he soaked comfortably in the magically heated water, a recent invention of the dwarves in the city of Carne, one which was becoming widespread amongst even the newly created cities in the Abelion Hills.

'_I will have to make sure to go see that area with his majesty next time he surveys the kingdoms'_

As Jircniv thought this, a slender body made its way into the water next to him, turning around to kiss his wife, he simply smiled a bit as he brought her closer to him in the warmth of the water.

"I still can't get used to all this" she said and she settled into his lap.

"Basir, all this is now yours" he chuckled "And I dare say no emperor before has ever been so secure"

"That's because his majesty sees your hard work and loyalty" she retorted back

"And so long as that remains, so too will our lineage rule, long live the Sorcerer King"

"Haha, i'm more than positive he would do that even without your added pr-"

"Your Majesty!"

There were very few people who would dare to intrerupt Jircniv, muchless when he was with his wife, but as the slightly sweaty face of his secretary Roune Vermillion made its way into the bath chamber he knew it would be something worth the interruption.

"What is it Vermillion?"

The man caught his breath as he spoke "Sir, a formal letter.. " .. "An invitation from his majesty Ainz Ooal Gown"

The now sweating man held out a simple black square card, with the seal of the Sorceress Kingdom embroidered in a majestic gold, Basir leapt off his lap as Jircniv immediately moved to take hold of the message

"What does it say?"

"We don't know your grace, there are no words on it, we believe it is embedded with magic to protect its authenticity"

"To be expected of his majesty"

As jircniv took hold of the letter the symbol began to glow and immidialy it changed into clear and distinct words, trusting everyone present, he read outloud

"_Emperor Jircniv Rune Farlord El Nix,_

_as the representative of the Vassal State of Baharuth._

_You have been invited by the Sorcerer King, Ainz Ooal Gown_

_to attend the International Summit for Peace to be held in two months time in E-Rantel._

_In recognition of the tumultuous times facing this great continent_

_this Summit is held in good faith to ensure peaceful co-existence and communication._

_Do you accept?_

_Yes_ _No"_

As quickly has he read the note, Jircniv replayed out loud "Yes" ….. though nothing happened

"Was something supposed to happen?" he asked

"Perhaps.. perhaps you have to touch it, Your Grace?" Roune commented

"Perhaps," he made to touch the word 'Yes" and as soon as he did, the square became completely black, before white letters emerged reading simply 'Thank you for your reply'

"An international summit… for peace?" Basir asked after she wrapped herself in a robe

"Indeed, do you think he will invite the Slane Theocracy?" asked Roune

"They would be the only ones to invite, unless he has other plans in mind,.. Ready a formal thank you, as well inform the Minister for Foreign Affairs of the situation, I want to know who is getting an invitation, I will not make an embarrassment of myself or his majesty by walking blind into what maybe a critical move in his plan"

Jircniv stepped close to the window highlighting his city, clear skies shown above, allowing a ray of warmth to touch his face. "It seems the world is about to change again" he sighed, as he turned to his wife and returned to the bath.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Queen Draudillon Oriculus had seen much in her long life, and while her current form wouldn't show it, she indeed has had a very long life. And that entitled her to not being surprised often, she could in some manner count how many times within the past decade she had found anything surprising.

It was thus safe to say, concerning this moment, this situation, Draudillon was surprised, no, she was terrified.

But for now, she needed to figure out what was going on, and whether this "offer" was too good to be true.

"You're going to have to excuse me, I'm just so shocked" she almost let her voice slip.

"No it's okay, we don't mind" said the dark elf boy.

Draudillon had seen a lot of very ornate and expensive items, and part of being a dragon allowed her to tell how rare or expensive something was, and she could tell the armour these two were wearing was astronomical in value, a rare beastial want gleamed in her eye for a moment, before reason returned.

'_Something has to be off here'_

As if sensing her trouble, her Prime Minister spoke up

"I sincerely apologise for my request but may I trouble you to introduce yourselves again please"

"Sure, I'm Aura Bella Fiore" said the boy in red proudly.

"A-and I'm Mare Bello Fiora" said the girl shyly, interesting enough, she didn't fully smell like a girl

"Thank you, I am Aulter Versmo" he said with a slight bow "Prime Minister to the queen, we sincerely welcome you both to the Dragonic Kingdom, now may we ask to what we owe the... Pleasure?"

There was a hint of worry in his voice, and Draudillon knew why, mere moments before, she heard her cities alarm raised, while the war with the Beastmen had cooled slightly because of the time of year, they nevertheless were still hunting and killing her people by the thousands, she had been slightly relieved when the Slane Theocracy had sent some members some months ago but no more relief had been given, and soon she knew the Beastmen would begin their onslaught again in earnest.

Fearing the alarm signaled the start of another massacre of her people Dradillon had her guards report immediately, when she was told two dark elves riding atop a massive dragon had stalled the Beastmen front line and ask for an audience, she could hardly keep herself from gawking in shock, even her Prime Minister thought it a joke until the sky became a mix of fantasy and slight terror as the beast descended into her courtyard.

Draudillon had seen her great grandfather before, when she was much younger and felt how his presence permeated her, she could tell he was strong, and when this dragon landed, the thing that made her blood freeze was not the powerful aura of the dragon but the two children riders cheerfully dismounting it. She had never felt power like this, not from the Brightness Dragonlord or even from her distant relative, the Platinum Dragon Lord, but nevertheless, here they were, reality returned in an instant.

Coming back to her senses she asked them "what may I do for you?"

"We came here under orders from our master to ensure you received this" The boy answered while removing a small black square from his pocket, it was very intricately made, and the gold seal atop its surface was something she was becoming more and more familiar with, it was the sigil of the Sorcerous Kingdom, the realm of that undead being they called Ainz Ooal Gown.

"Lord Ainz is holding a summit of nations and he hopes you will attend" there was something of reverence as she spoke her masters' name, something which would not go unnoticed.

_does he,.. worship this undead?_

The Prime Minister moved a bit slowly to secure the square, cautioning it might be a trap, once he took hold of it, he quickly returned to Draudillon and gave her the item.

As she touched it, a faint light glowed and the knights stationed inside the throne room tensed.

"It's alright, the messaged just revealed itself," she said with a slight wave to calm them.

_Honestly, I think I just saved them, I would tremble to think what would happen if these two started attacking my guards._

"Amazing, what kind of magic is this?" Aulter asked

"I'm not sure, I've never heard of anything like this, though the message is the same, it wants to hold an International Summit in two months time… for peace?"

"Peace? The undead?" a curious look came upon his face that she did not often see.

"It's what it says" she smirked revelling even a little at his confusion, though she did not fully understand it herself.

"Sir Aura, you will have to excuse us, we are a little confused, isn't your master one of the undead, does he not hate life? Why would he want peace?"

"I'm a girl"

"I beg your pardon?!"

"I'm. A. Girl" she said sternly

_What is happening today?!_

"I apologise I did not mean to offend"

"It's okay, it's how I was created" she said with a slight sigh

_Huh.. created?_

Before she could ask the obvious next question, Aura spoke again

"I'm not sure what you think or want to believe, but Lord Ainz is a supreme being, a God amongst us and it would be best to not think of him as anything less"

"Ah... I see, my apologies, do we have to give a reply right now?

"No you can simply touch the indicated reply on the card and it will let us know of your decision"

"Oh, that is quite convenient, then we will deliberate and reply to Lord Gown before the summit"

"Okay, also, our master has allowed us to extend to you a favour as a sign of good will"

Curiosity spiked in Draudillon as she heard these words, what sorts of favours did this 'supreme being' deal in?

"Oh, what is this favour"

"We will exterminate the Beastmen horde currently around your country, he said it won't keep them out forever but it should allow you peace for some time"

All eyes in the room widened at those words, for years the Beastmen had been rampaging through the Dragonic Kingdom, and the fight they had been putting up was futile at best, now this little girl is making this offer as if she is pulling water from a well.

"I have heard of the military strength of his majesty Ainz Ooal Gown but the Beastmen are powerful and surely he can't send enough soldiers to handle the Beastmen in such a short time" Aulter asked, more out of curiosity at what they would say, should they of brought an entire army with them it would have been noticed, what she said next almost landed him on the floor.

"No, we'll take care of it"

"WHAT!, just you two? There are thousands of beastment out there, and I do stress again, they are not weak"

"Mare here will do it, I don't have a lot of AOE attacks and my pets are elsewhere at the moment besides I don't really like fighting things that are too weak"

She could tell he wanted to ask more but as the elf bowed slightly, it signaled she was done answering questions.

_She completely ignored him, _thought Draudillon.

"Well we'll see you later hopefully, please dont keep Lord Ainz waiting too long, bye" said the girl and she began to leave

"C- cya, have a good day" said the her sister

_Wait.. could that one be a boy? _

As the thought came she struggled to swat it away.

"This Ainz Ooal Gown is too strange," she said almost to her self

"Yes, but how can they casually talk about the Beastmen like that, do you think it was an empty promise?" asked Aluter

"I don't think so when they landed here, I felt their power"

"Well yes, that dragon seems pretty powerful, bu-"

"I'm not talking about the dragon idiot!, those kids, they're monsters, I honestly don't even think my great grandfather could fight them," she said with a slight chill to her voice

As the words sank in, Aulter, asked the question of the hour "So will you go?"

"I don't know, but I need a drink. A lot of drinks"

_\- Later _

In a private chamber within her palace the Dragon Queen, sat awaiting her Prime Minister

Draudillon pondered the events in her mind for a few moments as she drank down an entire glass of aged wine in a very non-childlike manner, it was an especially bad practice she picked up in her younger years, but one which she very much enjoying right now.

The door opened, echoing with what seemed like the stress of years weighing upon it. Her lip curved slightly at the hope that nothing happened, the look on her Prime Ministers face as he slowly and carefully entered, then closed the door behind him, hinted she would be disappointed to assume that.

With her glassed now empty, she held up her hand and motioned for another, her Prime Minister approached and gingerly began refilling her glass, he paused and looked at her, speaking volumes with his eyes, a moment of silence hung in the air as the glass filled.

As if preparing he opened his mouth, paused and said "I have been briefed by the scouting commander"

"What happened? She asked

"The Beastmen have retreated, and it seems we are pretty safe for now, we don't have full details yet but supposedly half of their advance forces were killed in a fissure caused by the elf girl" as the words left his mouth, she could tell he was struggling to believe them himself.

The Beastmen attacked in waves, usually of two thousand or more and always led by their most capable and terrifying members, as a species that prized power over everything else they relished in being first to combat, and first to their sink their teeth into the "snacks" as some have taken to calling humans.

Her eyes widened in complete shock, to kill an entire wave is unheard of. When the Slane Theocracy did help by sending one of their secret scriptures, it took them weeks to cull the numbers down to a retreat, and usually, the Beastmen would just regroup and attack again within a month or two.

He sat down opposite of her, pondering no doubt the same issue she was.

As the moments dragged on he finally asked: "So what do you intend to do?"

'_If I don't go, what sort of monster would I be making an enemy of?'_

She looked at the black card on the table between them, the letters in their golden hue spoke of power,

'_Yes_ _No?'_

"Ainz Ooal Gown, I wonder what sort of monster you will be" she spoke as she steeled herself and pressed '_Yes'_


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: Hello everyone, I got a head start on the next few chapters so I wanted to do a double release, I wanted to thank everyone who's commented and reviewed for the encouragement and advice, and please any corrections or comments or things of the sort are greatly appreciated.**

**Chapter 3**

Neteb was a frogman assistant to the higher council, his job was more prestigious in name than in function, while he was the representative of the frogmen in the lower council house and indeed it was true he helped coordinate the affairs of the council, in truth he just passed messages for what they decreed.

Rarely if ever did he actually speak with them or even get acknowledgment for the hard work he did but such is life, today however was a very weird day as he saw it. Usually, the councilors never truly showed up, dragons were powerful and with that weird magic they had, they could communicate through their children and grandchildren never having to directly meet to pass their edicts.

So today, when he heard all the councillors except for the Platinum Dragonlord, would be present for an audience, he couldn't help but be shocked and curious as to what was going on. He had been summoned via official channel by the third son of the Worm Dragonlord, a particularly self-righteous individual that he didn't hate but never really got along with.

'_I wonder if he did that on purpose'_

As he approached the council chamber the guards to either side opened the wide double doors, it was a massive open amphitheater, the structure was one of the biggest in the entire city and easily seen from almost every angle, the reason was to both remind the citizens who represented them and who was their true leaders. The doors closed behind him, as he was one of the last ones to arrive before the high councillors.

"Neteb!" spoke a boisterous voice.

Looking to his right, he saw a massive hand before he felt a jolt to his frame, it was powerful and the pain was part of his greeting, the Bearman standing in front of him now was Serotib Vis, a prominent merchant within the city and one of the more, aggressive, counselors when it comes to discussion.

"Lord Vis, how do you do" he replied pleasantly.

"Enough of the lord nonsense, we are all equal here"

The sharp tooth smile, might have led some to think he was being sarcastic, but Neteb knew better, despite his nature and stature, Serotib was a fair and honest person, and someone he respected a good degree.

"You're too kind Vis, say do you know why we are all here? And is it true they're all coming?"

Without needing to explain further a look of seriousness dawned on his compatriot.

"It is, though I've only heard some rumors it seems yesterday some emissaries of that new nation to the south, the Sorcerous Kingdom, came and asked for an audience"

A slight shock came to Neteb, he had heard of the Sorcerous Kingdom, more importantly, he had heard about their king "The land ruled by that undead?!" his shock was evident.

"Shhh, don't speak too loudly, but yes, apparently they want to speak to the council, and when the high counselors heard about this, they called the entire council, a forced order for everyone within the area, I hear some had to come as far as Duren in the west and rode all night to make it in time," spoke Serotib.

Before they could speak more, a loud roar was heard overhead, and the entire theatre slightly shook, looking upwards Neteb saw the great wings of a massive dragon, as if descending from nothing itself the reflective scale mirrored the very sky itself, and as the presence became more and more pronounced they could feel the air vibrate around them.

"I guess it is time to take a seat, come on, I have no desire to stand out too much today Nateb,"

Serotib quickly began retreating to the first row of seats.

The amphitheatre was arranged to have three distinct seating placements, each tiered against the other. The bottom-most one held the most seats and was arranged to offer different sorts of spaces for the different races which comprised the lower representative council, this is where the majority of councillors sat, or stood or laid, depending on their bodies.

Opposite them and at a higher placement was the state administrators, these were almost exclusively children of the dragonlords, this was also where the bulk of the military officers, generals, and intellectuals sat, the positions were held by those recognized by the higher council.

Adjacent to both of these pavilions and highest among them was a massive open space, with five small but ornate chairs positioned at the very front, the area took the majority of the amphitheatre and presented an almost forced presence for whomever was facing it, this effect was both intentional and effective.

The building itself was almost entirely composed of Mythril, with adamantine layered against the opposite walls and openings from where the high councillors were stationed, a design element which allowed them to safely "pass judgment" upon any guilty party which displeased them, without killing any of the other councillors.

Neteb, along with most of the councillors looked towards the upper area as the dragonlord descended and with surprising grace, the Blue Sky Dragonlord landed upon the large open area in his tier, his scales shone a brilliant blue, something akin to the colour of a pleasant summers day, clear and without fault, it was this beauty which highlighted the distinct mark on the powerful left arm of the dragonlord, a sight which one might find odd for such a powerful being, a rumor Neteb heard was that the Blue Sky Dragonlord had once challenged the Platinum Dragonlord and received that wound as testament for his folly.

In the pavillion paralel to his, a group of humanoids stood and bowed, children of the Blue Sky Dragonlord, they had a slight blue tinge to them, with his direct children being almost indistinguishable from dragonoids.

Immediately following this however the sky again became abuzz with activity as two more dragons descended, the two came down as if dancing around each other, and with their spirals twisting about they landed in a seemingly dramatic fashion, these were the twin lords, the Diamond and Obsidian Dragonlords, the youngest of the group of councilors, and the newest to reach the rank of ancient and become dragonlords, though Neteb thought being nine hundred years old was not young in any way.

Neteb could see a slight conversation being had between the three dragons, he focused however on the next group of humanoids in the pavilion to stand and greet them, among them were some whom he despised, including the current ranking officer in charge of the city of Vernsi, where the majority of frogmen called home. While he was the representative of his people this dragonling was their lord, something he made habit of reminding them by taxing their business a fair amount.

"You've got to be able to calm your nerves, you frogmen wear your emotions on your sleeves" he heard next to him as Serotib spoke.

He continued "I've heard of his.. activities with those of your kind who can't make the tax, maybe you can petition the high council since they are here now, this is a rare opportunity."

"Thank you Serotib, if I get the opportunity I definitely will"

As he spoke, a small chamber door opened towards the high council's pavilion, where a humanoid stepped through, and the hushed silence which followed spoke to the reputation of the one who entered, while many knew that the Platinum Dragonlord was the most powerful of the council, they all also knew that the Worm Dragonlord was the eldest, he was Annelida Tarne, a survivor from the war with the Eight Kings of Avarice, and the missing right arm was proof enough of his involvement.

The aged dragon took his seat, and the others remaining in their full form stood behind him, it was then the main doors opened and a bipedal horseman ushered in 4 human females, Netab had seen his fair share of humans and while he often found them revolting due to their sickly appearance, he couldn't help but think these humans were different somehow, they reached the centre of the floor, the maids knelt and the horseman bowed towards the assembly.

"Are these the emissaries we were called for, a bunch of maids?" asked Serotib, a slight bit of annoyance audible in his voice.

"High Councillors, I present the emissaries of the Sorcerous Kingdom!" the Horseman said loudly, before stepping aside and returning to his guard position.

"Welcome to the Argland Council State, we are the high councilors of this nation I am Annelida Tarne, known better at the Worm Dragonlord"

"I am known as the Blue Sky Dragonlord, my name is Suveria Myronsilk" arching his head slightly upwards.

"I am the Diamond Dragonlord, Alletrope Yionvis"

"And I, the Obsidian Dragonlord, Igneous Yonvis"

"On behalf of our nation we bid you welcome, now tell us what business have you here?" spoke the Worm Dragonlord, there was weariness in his voice, and Netab understood why, he had heard some almost unbelievable rumors about this Sorcerous Kingdom and had expected the emissaries to be undead.

The first maid, presumably their leader spoke, she woke ornate gauntlets which along with the woven pieces of armor present in her attire was contradictory with the image of a traditional maid

"Greetings councillors on behalf of our master, his majesty Ainz Ooal Gown"

A hush fell again at the sound of her voice, it was, pleasant to say the least.

"I am Yuri Alpha, behind me is Lupusregina Beta.." Another maid, one with fiery red hair and a strange sort of cap, raised her head.

"..Narberal Gamma" again one of the maids raised their head, this one with a long black hair.

".. and Solution Epsilon" the last of the maids raised her head, Neteb knew some about how humans courted and reproduced and he suspected that her manner of dress which exposed much of her upper portions and tight towards her middle was meant to attract a mate, but he brushed away the thought.

'_Humans are weird'_

"Our master wishes to extend this invitation to your council" the first maid retrieved a small black square from somewhere and a member of the middle council rose and flew to the maids, he took hold of the item and with permission flew to the top pavilion and gave it to the Worm Dragonlord.

There was silence as the high councillors reviewed the item.

"Is this some sort of joke" he heard the Blue Sky Dragonlord say

"Silence Suveria, do not be rude to our guests!"

snapped the high councillor, he turned his attention to the maids,

"Does your master wish to invite others to this '_Summit'_?" asked the Worm Dragonlord

"He does, invitations will be extended to all surrounding nations in the hopes of dialogue and peaceful negotiations for coexistence" she replied in a courteous tone.

"Nonsense! You expect us to believe the word of some undead?!" snapped the Blue Sky Dragonlord

All eyes fixed upon the maids as an intense wave of killing intent seemingly pulsated from the three in the rear, an act which seemed to surprise and even scare the high councillors themselves, as the Worm Dragonlord quickly replied

"Quiet Suveria, not another outburst from you" he turned his attention back to the maids

"We apologize for any offense given to your master" he paused

"While Suveria has indeed spoken out of turn, I cannot help but share his sentiment, we are weary to meet with your lord, I do hope you can understand our position"

Neteb was taken back, in all his life, he would have never thought to hear a dragonlord apologise, much less about the outburst of another, it was then he thought about the stories he had heard concerning the Sorcerer King, how supposedly he had massacred thousands of humans

'_Could they be afraid of him?'_

As he locked to Serotib he saw a similar introspective look on his face, and reasoned to speak with him about it later

The maid spoke

"We understand your hesitation and would be willing to report to our master that you wish not to participate, though understand his majesty has wrought peace and prosperity to all within his domain, and you should not be quick to judge based simply on rumor"

"Your words are indeed wise, … we would be remiss to simply refuse, may we respond to this invitation at another time, when we can deliberate the matter with all the councillors?"

"Of course, when you have reached your decision simply press on the corresponding reply on the invitation note"

The old dragon stood and spoke "We will ensure to do so, as quickly as we can, do thank your master on our behalf for his invitation, perhaps we will meet again in the future"

The maids stood "you are most gracious my lord, we will do as such" they bowed and left the theatre with the horseman guard

After a period of time, the Worm Dragonlord spoke "you are all dismissed"

It was a simple statement with a simple meaning '_Get Out!'_

With practiced haste, all the lower councillors filtered from the theatre, with the lesser dragons bowing to their respective linage before leaving.

"Serotib, may I speak with you?..."

* * *

When they were alone, the Blue Sky Dragonlord spoke.

"Mind yourself old man, you would have us meet with an undead?"

"Suveria, you are to treat master Allelinda with respect, don't overstep your bounds" spoke the Diamond Dragonlord, with the Obsidian Dragonlord nodding in approval.

"You two as well? have you all gone mad?"

"Suveria, I know you often just fly around as if nothing matters but have you heard anything about that being, this undead you speak of?"

"I've heard he killed some humans some years ago, but what is that any concern of mine?"

"Some time ago a theocracy agent came to us with terms of alliance against him, he reportedly killed over 80,000,... With a single spell, and another 100,000 afterward from the after effects of that same spell"

Surprise could be seen in the face of the Blue Sky Dragonlord, but as the words sank in his surprise turned to shock, and in spite of himself,... fear.

"That's… just a joke right?" he breathed looking around: "it... can't... Be true, right?"

The Obsidian Dragonlord spoke

"We know the Theocracy hates us, yet they made the gamble to try and sue for an alliance against this undead, once we investigated and learned the truth, we quickly turned them down"

"The last time a power like this came emerged within our world, our rule came to an end, I fought those years ago because I believed we dragons were the pinnacle of this world, that our power was absolute, and as my siblings and brethren died, as the mountain tops littered with the bodies of dragons, and the air bathed in their blood, I saw we were not the gods we made ourselves out to be. I realized just how small we truly are, if this Ainz Ooal Gown is capable of even a fraction of what those Eight Kings could do, then this is a calamity we would do best to avoid at all costs, but if he is willing to speak on peaceful terms, then we should venture to hear him out."

As he spoke he felt the old ache from where his wound was, memories of a time where fire filled the skies, and the land was soaked with the blood of dragons, the other three knew this old worm did not like to speak on the war with the Kings of Avarice.

"Do you believe he's like them master?" asked the Diamond Dragonlord

"I do not know, I would have to meet him, but I am sure you all felt his subordinates, those maids, when You! spoke ill of their master" he said glaring at the Blue Sky Dragonlord

"Yes..they were surprisingly powerful, but so what! With some effort I could still defeat them, of that I am positive"

"One perhaps, two if you had help, but not more than that, and especially not alone, the one in the rear, with the black hair, her magic is strong, incredibly strong, much more powerful than what I can cast, of that I am sure."

As he said this three pairs of eyes widened in surprise

"But master, you can cast 5th tier magic as well some wild magic, are you saying she is like that human, Paradyne, able to cast 6th tier magic?" asked the Obsidian Dragonlord

"No she can cast higher tiers, of that I am positive, dare I even say perhaps the 8th tier," he said almost to himself

"8th tier magic is a myth... Right?"

When no response was had, the three younger dragons took to silence to think on the situation, on the threat looming just beyond.

"What about our wild magic than, should we band together we can surely deal a devastating blow, if Tsa is willing to leave his hole we could channel our soul strength and have him cast his spell" the Blue Sky Dragonlord said with a bit of hope

Somberly the Worm Dragonlord spoke: "Wild magic asks too great a cost to cast, in the war, it took days of fighting and the souls of 10 of our brethren to cast a spell powerful enough to finish one of those Kings of Avarice, we don't have enough citizens in this country to sacrifice for a spell like that, and I'm not even sure it would work if we did, those Kings were powerful, but none of them could cast a spell like this Sorcerer King"

He continued

"I will be contacting Tsaindorcus, I don't believe he will leave his little nest but he can arrive by proxy of his armour, and I plan to push we accept, if Ainz Ooal Gown is willing to talk than that at the very least means he is not a simple brute like those kings of the past, and if we can indeed reason with him then perhaps we can forge a way forward"

"Do you think Tsa will accept, he hates anything related to those Kings, considering what happened to his father the Dragon Emperor" inquired the Diamond Dragonlord

Turning around the Worm Dragonlord began walking towards the exit within the upper pavilion, pausing only to look at the ground and speaking

"He may not fully like it, but Tsaindorcus is not an idiot, he will recognize the opportunity and besides if nothing else this might give us the chance to see how we can fight the Sorcerer King if it ever comes to that."


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: It's a bit of a slow start but soon (next chapter) we'll be getting into the meat and potatoes with the Slane Theocracy and their shenanigans, thank you again to everyone for the reviews, and suggestions, I did want to note that a fight between Sebas and Tsa would indeed be interesting :) … seems my last upload messed up a little, should be fixed now**

**Chapter 4**

Renner was impressed, she had thought well of the Sorcerer King when he orchestrated the invasion of the kingdom those years ago, she had been very surprised by the dramatic birth of his nation, his immediate subjection of the Baharuth Empire and that "Bloody Emperor" of theirs.

She had always found him pleasant, a person who could recognize how valuable she was, even from afar, though she had reasoned he would have put up more of a fight before seceding his country to the Sorcerous Kingdom, though after hearing of the events surrounding the situation she understood and was even sympathetic to how well he had been completely outmaneuvered, something which only deepened her respect for the Sorcerer King.

She knew of the capabilities of his retinue, her now overseer, Lady Albedo, easily surpassed her in almost every conceivable manner, but when she contemplated the existence her mistress called master, she was truly and utterly bewildered, she had heard in the south, after the events in the Holy Kingdom a religion had popped up proclaiming the Sorcerer King a God, a sentiment she couldn't help but agree with, but until such a time it came into the Re-Estize Kingdom, she would bid her time and wait before proclaiming herself a believer.

"Renner?" She came back to reality

She turned her head to face the voice, to her left in a slightly higher position sat her brother, she placed a convincing smile before cocking her head in an 'innocent' manner.

"I'm sorry brother, I seem to have been a little lost in my thoughts"

"Its alright sister, but do stay with us, as Prime Minister your input is greatly valued"

She understood the deeper meaning behind those words, and a slight momentary curve fell upon her lips.

Not even two years ago, the Re-Estize Kingdom was on the verge of total collapse, a new radical faction of nobles grew seemingly out of nowhere and attempted to usurp the throne, in the turmoil that followed cities suffered as nobles fought proxy wars with the lives of their peasants as ammunition. Their leader, an idiot by the name of Philip kept insisting he belonged on the throne, eventually leading to the death of her father.

By the time these events occurred, hundreds of thousands of people had died in the kingdom from sickness or starvation, so hateful were the peasants that when Renner, the sweet grief-stricken princess who had lost her father to this madness, approached the Sorcerer King for aide, all supported her. Moreso when wagon upon wagon of food, water, and resources poured into the kingdom, no one minded that the one who provided it was undead, nor did they ever stop to remember the events on the Katze plains.

With the common people in support of him, the Sorcerer King went about executing his flawless plan, and as Renner watched she was unendingly awed by the moves of his majesty. His first proclamation was the ascension of Zanec to the throne, but what she found even more amazing was her elevation to the newly created position of Prime Minister with the strict condition that she and only she would be the point of contact for all matters concerning the state of the vessel, effectively making her the true ruler leaving her brother nothing more than a figurehead.

After this the Sorcerer King demanded the complete eradication of the nobility, blaming them for the tragedies of the past, their lands were seized and distributed back to the people allowing once tall bastions of wealth and privilege to be open to those who had nothing, a move, not all agreed with, and while most of the nobility complied and kept their private estates as homes, some, foolish few, chose to rebel, and the swift correction which followed cemented just how God like the Sorcerer King was.

Following this, reform after reform occurred in the country, many of which she had been trying to implement for years and some she had never even thought of.

His Majesty allowed for a five-year interest deferred loan of undead labour directly to the kingdom, which greatly increased the production of food alleviating much of the pressure on the already depleted peasant population.

'_Perhaps the culling of the peasant class was also part of his plan all along'_

Following the undead labour came changes to the ranking and class system, requirements for education, benefit and various means of aid for struggling peasant businesses, the establishment of a formal standing military, and an overhaul of the economic system. His majesty placed the royal family as mediators and distributors for the undead, now people could directly deal with the royal family to loan their own undead allowing the royal family to tax these second loans and profit greatly, helping to rebuild their lost wealth. With the undead' s ability to work endlessly throughout the year, yields increased exponentially, in the first harvest alone, the kingdom had produced enough grain, bread, fruits, and vegetables to support its entire population twice over, something which drove prices down significantly. This led to greater business gains as people had more income to spend on other items, renovations and eventually items simply for pleasure.

With the people satisfied Renner had opportunity to fulfill her own vision, implementing sweeping bureaucratic reform, under the direction of her mistress, establishing more orphanages, hiring Dwarven runesmiths to begin the creation of enchanted roadways like those of the Empire and Sorcerous Kingdom and her own addition to the "Highway" project from his majesty, these reforms are but the start of a long list she had planned for her nation, and with her position absolutely secured, she could do it all. She smiled internally as the pieces came together, finally, the kingdom she would have ample use of her vast intellect.

Yet while this brought her a measure of pleasure, her true satisfaction, came from the man standing directly behind her.

* * *

Climb had benefited greatly from the re-establishment of the Re-Estize Kingdom, he was like most people at first, extremely scared, he had half a mind to take his mistress and run away when the third faction was created, and when they assassinated the king, he had prepared everything to leave immediately, he would not allow his sweet princess to come to harm, not while he had breath in his lungs and strength in his body, when she had suggested they go seek help he had agreed, and when they arrived in E-Rantel he had been fearful, but he would not question her decision. He had been prepared to die fighting should anything happen when they had been granted an audience with the Sorcerer King.

As his mistress spoke of the troubles of her people and the state of the nation, he was convinced that undead monster would do nothing but laugh in her face and proceed to watch and revel in their misery, to his complete surprise when the king not only took sympathy for her but offered his immediate help, it stunned him for quite a while.

The undead king came and swept up the country almost overnight, in the months to follow, he saw reform after reform take place. Ideas he had never thought possible and he found himself agreeing with what the Sorcerer King was doing, when he made Renner Prime Minister and gave her power and support to finally execute what she had always with the kingdom he was even thankful. Part of him still hated the undead king for his killing of his mentor, Gazef, but now, he was conflicted to think it might have been for the better.

And while he thought this to an extent he knew Brain was still bitter, he went along with everything because of his position as the new warrior captain, and he knew he could not even hope to touch the Sorcerer King without more power, but Climb knew if ever he had the opportunity, Brain would avenge his old rival and friend without a second's hesitation.

'_But could I let him do it?'_

* * *

Lakyus was kneeling looking at the king, Zanec sat holding a strange black square, she had some knowledge of arcane magic and whatever that thing was it was radiating something powerful, she looked at Evileye from the corner of her eye and resolved to ask her about what it could be after this.

Zanec spoke

"This is an official invitation from his majesty, he is holding a summit in his domain and wishes for us to attend, of course, we accepted and we would like to hire Blue Rose as an extension to our personal guard for the duration of the summit."

'_All that magic power and it's just a freaking postcard?!' _She was taken aback, before getting her mind back on the subject

Lakaus understood the idea and honestly, they had thought it would be something different when they were contacted by official channels rather than by Renner

"We would be honoured to escort you, our grace, when will this be taking place?" asked Lakyus

"The event is set to be in two months' time, we wish to be there prior to roam the city and seek an audience with his majesty before the commencement to the official summit so we will leave in a month for the journey" replied Zanec

Lakyus looked to Renner, she knew that if they wanted they could have utilized the Sorcerous Kingdom's teleportation magic and arrived within the city almost instantly, so it seems the idea is to sightsee, most likely for something else, or they were told not to use such methods, regardless, a job was a job.

"May we know who else will be with us?"

This time Renner spoke.

"My Climb will be coming of course as well as the new Warrior Captain"

Lakyus could feel how happy her friend was at those words, and her heart was touched by the little fidget Climb had when he heard them, she knew Renner had been wishing to openly be with Climb for a very long time, and now she could, the circumstances leading to this were not ideal, a lot of people suffered and died for them to arrive at this place and Lakyus knew some people were not happy with the country as it is now. Her family had been nobility prior to the proclamation of the Sorcerer King, they had lost their domain and a sizable bit of wealth, she, of course, did not mind, she had always associated more with the common people and she was happy the country was nonetheless starting to get better.

Brain, who was next to the king, for his part looked equal parts annoyed and uncaring, and she could guess why, she had heard he had a close relationship with Gazef Stronoff, and his death had hit him hard, but he bound himself to duty in order to remember his friend, something she was humbled by.

"That is excellent, then we will begin preparation for the journey your Grace"

"Excellent, then you are dismissed, we will work the details of payment another time." said Zanec

"Would you ladies care for tea?" asked Renner

Looking at her sisters she saw no visible objections, even from Evileye, looking back at her friend Lakyus smiled: "Sure, we would love to your highness"

* * *

Keeno Fasris Inberun, known now as Evileye had kept her mouth shut, something she was hoping her sisters would note and follow, after the long tea party they had casually left the royal palace, and she hoped the peace she was enjoying would last a bit longer, unfortunately.

"Well damn, this is pretty great, looks like it will be an easy job" Gagaran mouthed off almost immediately as they set beyond the gates.

"yea, and we're going to get paid our usual rate" said Tina

"I love Renner and her mission but I also enjoy getting some money to put in my pocket" replied Tia

The twins looked at each other and nodded with a clear smile, Keeno knew their love for gambling, and how good they were at it, recently they've been extremely happy because more people had been getting coin back in their pockets, coin they would more than happily help separate them from with a clever trick of the hand and indescribable 'luck'.

"Do you think it's trustworthy?" she asked

Lakyus for her part had stayed quiet, most likely thinking the same thing, Kenno could always trust her sister in matters concerning the group's safety, she was strong and loved to uphold her beliefs but she would never compromise the safety of the team for anything.

"It's hard to say, there's been a lot that's happened, and really most of it good" her sister said softly

The mood changed, as they left the palace they surveyed the city before them,

"I've lived here a very long time, and I can't honestly remember the last time I saw this many people milling about looking this happy,... This hopeful" said Lakyus.

Keeno turned her masked face, she saw people moving about the streets, smiling as they seemed to have places to go and things to do.

"You're right, I haven't seen this many people running around since before the incident with Jaldaboath" retorted Gagaran, "You know, I'm actually a little excited to meet this Sorcerer King now"

There were nods of approval from the twins, and she saw Lakyus despite herself nod once as well.

"Could we trust him though, I mean what he is, what if this is all part of his plan, to get everyone?" Keeno finally spoke

Lakyus froze in her position, she turned her head slightly and looked at Keeno, before softly saying "You know I think not too long ago I would have agreed with you Evileye, I would of called him a monster and begged Renner not to go, honestly I'm happy we weren't here when she did, because I've seen more good come to our country in the last year because of the Sorcerer King, if he's shown me anything, its that we may of all been wrong about him all this time," she looked down, lost in thought "maybe I've been wrong about a lot of things"

Hearing this Keeno resolved her self to ask "Are you still questioning?"

"I am, Neia's words still weigh in my mind, and after everything we went through down there I can't say with confidence anymore that she is wrong…"

A silence hung in the air for a moment

"Are you saying you think his majesty is really a god?" asked Tia

The others had quieted down, Keeno could tell they were all listening, trying to make up their own minds about the matter,

"I don't really know, we know he's powerful, we can see he's working to change things, and he's got a vision at least, and that's more than what I can say right now for my own faith, ...I just feel abandoned, those people in the Holy Kingdom were abandoned, our own country for years was abandoned, all that suffering, all that pain and the gods did nothing, not the four not the six, people prayed upon deaf ears,.. Maybe that's not a god I want to believe in anymore." there was sadness in her sister's voice, a sadness Keeno knew all too well, the dread of losing one's hope, of losing one's self, of searching for something to hide behind, whether it be a god,... or a mask.

"I think we should take Neia's suggestion, now we have an excuse to go to the Sorcerous Kingdom, and if we have time, maybe we can petition his Majesty to speak with us about the matter, even Renner said he was extremely intelligent, if anything it may help up you find clarity" suggested Gagaran.

It was strange watching this brute of a woman show almost motherly concern for someone, other than the poor boys she tried to 'pick'

"Perhaps,... " replied Lakyus

Tia interrupted their thoughts saying: "I think before that, it might do us all well to take another one of Neia's suggestions and rethink what we assume about the undead,"

Keeno kept pace and heard as the words revolved around her head, _the truth,_ revolving around her head,

The _truth_

…. _truth_.

'_Changing our minds about the undead huh, maybe I might enjoy meeting him too' _she thought as they walked further into the ever busying streets on a city rejuvenated

* * *

Sebas had enjoyed his assignment to the Kingdom, and while he has made a mistake in hiding his help of Tuareninya, the kindness his master had shown in her case only reaffirmed his faith and loyalty,

'_To think my lord would go so far for a human, truly he is supreme'_

It was this contrast indeed that placed him in such a foul mood, Sebas did not like the harming of innocents, a very fortunate byproduct of his creator, Touch Me, yet in his time here he had seen enough to gain an understanding of the kind of being this Elf King was.

Despite his being here for several days already, the audience with the Elf King was delayed, repeatedly, with only constant apologies from those that served him, and once an Elf male had arrived in place of the female who had been his point of contact with the kingdom, the former stating that the woman, had entered her time of 'duty' for the King, a phrase he found odd as it was spoken with a hint of hate from the male.

It was thus that when he had finally been told that the Elf King would see him that he made his way into the palace, while many of the common folk lived in what he would consider very meager homes, made mostly within massive trees and along the forest floor, their king lavished himself with a grand estate, something of a comedic point of contrast to his own people, though Sebas had seen these sorts of domains already in his time here, and he always noted that their inhabitants never truly understood what true wealth was.

The thought of being done with this king and returning to his proper duties besides his master allowed him to steel himself for what sort of maniac would be waiting for him within this so-called palace.

As he came to the throne room, a pair of young elves quickly darted to open the doors, what he entered was more akin to a harem chamber than a throne room, littered throughout in a tryingly organized fashion were elven women, quite a number were in less than appropriate clothing for ladies in court, a note he made before turning his eyes to the single elf sitting rather lazily in the ornate throne.

Sebas walked forwards and bowed slightly before hearing a voice give introductions,

"Introducing Sir Sebas Tian, personal butler to the Sorcerer King Ainz Ooal Gown, Ruler of the Socoreous Kingdom"

When this was done, Sebas raised his head, he surveyed the king before him, his features were, unremarkable, save however for his distinctive heterochromatic black and white eyes, something which caught Sebas by surprise.

Noticing the shift in the seemingly iron butler, the Elf King spoke,

"What gives you such a face human?"

"Forgive me, your grace, I was taken aback by your eyes" replied Sebas bowing slightly.

The reply must have had some effect as the elf made to look at Sebas more intently,

"Have you …. seen eyes such as these before?"

The question seemed odd and out of place, Sebas would note that as well

"I have, though not exactly the same as yours, two of my compatriots have such eyes"

A very visible change came upon the king, as if deep in contemplation, then his manner of speaking and even body language seemed to change, seeming almost, excited.

"Well that is quite fortunate, now I have been briefed on your proposal, this meeting your master is hosting"

"Summit" Sebas corrected

"Yes, yes, tell me, why should I involve myself with such matters"

"It is the will of my lord that peace be established and in his efforts to accomplish this task he wishes to bring together everyone who also wishes for this, he mentions that 'more can be won with a strike of the pen than a thousand wars' and thus your invitation, your grace" extending his hand Sebas held out a small black card, with the sigil of his nation upon it.

Sebas waited patiently as the Elf seemingly made up his mind, he motioned to a servant who quickly collected the card and brought it to the king.

A light shone as the message was revealed, the king than quickly accepted the message and returned his eyes to Sebas

Sebas noted the slight pause as the Elf King narrowed his eyes and asked "Will your master be inviting the Slane Theocracy"

A small smile formed on Sebas's lips

"Yes your grace, he will indeed"

"... Is that right..." the Elf King said under his breath


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: And here we go, set up is complete so the next chatper will conclude the first part of this story, before moving on to the actual titel's sake, stay tuned and thank you for all the support.**

**Chapter 5**

Slyvin tightened his grip on the spear [Heaven's Sky Piercer], he always felt comfortable when he had this relic, to say it was his favourite would be an understatement, in a similar manner to how Zesshi enjoyed her brutish scythe [Bane of Uranus]. He felt an divine strength when it was with him, a feeling he very much felt he needed right now. Though today was not a normal day, it wasn't normal for him to be called in under operational condition black, it wasn't normal for that condition to apply to the Theocracy, It wasn't normal for him to be outfitted for full combat within the borders of his country, much less for everyone to get outfitted as such, but the circumstances surrounding this situation wasn't normal and his orders were very explicit, full battle capability. From the way he could tell eleven, seven and even five were breathing, holding their breaths just long enough to calm themselves down, exhaling and repeating the process, he knew they were was on edge.

'_I think everyone is, not that I blame them'_

"Object sighted, carriage, black, 10km away" spoke eleven

"Everyone get ready! Do not engage unless hostile or if I give you the signal. ten, you're out front, defensive positions, everyone else look for a position to attack from if you need to, eleven find cover in the back if anything happens you're to immediately notify the diviners watching."

Turning to number two he spoke: "Two you're with me we'll be meeting this envoy, if you get the feeling of an attack, activate your relic and kill whatever it is."

"Captain why don't we just destroy it now, what are the Cardinals thinking?"

"It'd be a real bad idea to start hostilities, if they attack, we retaliate, if not, do not engage!" he reaffirmed

"Gods be with you"

Everyone moved, twelve and seven moving to the left flank, five and six out to the right, the magic casters dropped back and were at the ready while ten moved forward and placed his massive axe down in front.

He had no idea what was going to happen but the firepower they had right now was enough to kill even a dragonlord, and with two with him he was confident they could initiate enough of an engagement to get the upper hand for retreat if they needed to.

The carriage came into sight, and he narrowed his eyes to take in its features, eleven, Thousand Miles Astrologer, had already given them a brief before they left the capitol, as well the Windflower Scripture had informed the Cardinals days before when the carriage left E-Rantel heading south. When it had crossed into their country's territory the cardinals had ordered a full mobilization, luckily it seemed to avoid any settlements and towns on its way towards Kami Miyako but that didn't decrease the threat level any less, the military was on full recall, and every scripture available had been activated and outfitted for alternating defensive and offensive extremes.

Slyvin thought of how much of a fit Zesshi had thrown when she was told to stand by and guard the capitol if anything happened, though he felt better knowing she was there.

He shook his head to get his mind back on track and stared as the carriage approached. It was beautiful to say the least, even from afar and as It drew closer he could tell it was worthy of a king.

'_Don't tell me it's the undead himself?'_

A wave of fear permeated him, from his briefs he know they would be in for genuine trouble if that undead had chosen to show up here, the process to revive eight and nine had failed, and the replacements had not yet been chosen, it was extremely difficult to be selected for the Black Scripture and none of the other scriptures were willing to lend them members currently. If it truly was the undead king he was not the least bit confident they could stall him long enough all together, much less fight or defeat him.

'_Damn! I need to focus'_

"You alright boss? I've never seen you this nervous" asked two

Two was a young looking man, in reality though he was at least twice Slyvin's age, Anhur Miyltho Lodioes, he preferred to be called Miylo because he thought it made him sound younger and went with his 'innocent' vibe, in truth he was a battle maniac who enjoyed using his power more than anyone else in his team, even more than ten, but that made him useful when they needed to be extremely aggressive, and in terms of overall combat strength he could almost be considered a God-kin, a welcomed thought considering lady Kaire was also dead.

"I'm alright, just not everyday something like this happens," he feigned a smile.

The carriage came to rest a little over 30 metres from their position, a powerful looking scaled creature was pulling it, it looked worthy to be a challenge on it's own, he could only think what sort of hideous monstrosity would exit from the carriage.

The door swung open slowly,... painfully slow, and from the inside a gloved hand emerged, and with it a seemingly proud and particularly well dressed old man. He had a tailored black suit with a small pin added to his lapels with the sigil of the Sorcerous Kingdom, his white gloves contrasted well with his tall build, and his hair was a chrome coloured gray and the beard he spotted was even charming. What distinguished him to Slyvin, were his eyes, they hinted at raw, indescribable, and almost primal power, they sent a shiver down his entire body.

"A human?" Two asked confused.

"Don't drop your guard, we don't know who or what that is" Slyvin reminded, though he was internally very relieved

The old man began to approach, they could tell he had pride in his profession, his saunter was something attained through years of practice, his back ramrod straight, and his hands placed almost mechanically at his side, when he was about 10 metres away Slyvin spoke,

"I think that's far enough, identify yourself!"

The old man stopped, bowed slightly and spoke in a tone which inferred he had no trouble addressing even kings,

"A pleasure to meet you gentlemen, I am Sebas Tian, personal butler to his majesty the Sorcerer King, Ainz Ooal Gown"

He could hear an audible swallow from two and saw his hand twitch slightly from his peripheral vision,

'_His getting trigger happy'_

Slyvin stepped forward both to address the butler clearly and to calm his companion even a little.

"We have not received any word of this visit, what business does your master have here?"

"My master does ask that you do please forgive the intrusion, his majesty foresaw any other means of contact would be, ignored, thus his instance on a personal visit. As to my business, I am here to deliver an invitation to your governing body, the Cardinals." The butler, Sebas, retorted

'_I can't really deny that'_

"What is this invitation?"

"My apologies but it is a message explicitly for your cardinals, I have been instructed to surrender to you for the duration of my visit to ensure no ill intent is perceived, I must make clear that I have been granted permission to retaliate should I be attacked or any hostile action taken against me unwarrantedly. My master however, trusts in the goodwill of your country."

'_So his giving us the opportunity to be the bad guys eh, cunning bastard'_

"I do not have authority to grant an audience, I will have you wait here while word is sent to the Cardinals."

"That will do, thank you" the butler said respectfully.

Slyvin immediately sent word to the cardinals of the situation, as well as his personal recommendation about it. After some time waiting a reply was had, and to his surprise, it seems the Cardinals were willing to entertain this meeting, though on their terms.

"The Cardinals have approved your audience, though the meeting will be had in a different location, you are to follow us to a nearby area where you can give them this invitation, understand any suspicious behavior or actions will be met with force."

"Understood, then I am at your mercy" the butler bowed and returned to his carriage and Slyvin instructed his team to move out to the new location.

* * *

Raymond was considered one of the more 'relaxed' cardinals, he had for a long time experienced the hardships of the front lines and grew a respect for combat and understood those who fought in it. Because of this experience he also understood peace, and when it was required.

"We should not be doing this" mouthed Dominic, Raymond turned his head to look at his fellow Cardinal, "As the defenders of humanity we should not be entertaining the messengers of this evil, vile, repulsive creature." the Cardinal of Wind continued.

Dominic had been absolutely opposed to the idea of them meeting this 'Butler' not that Raymond was comfortable with the idea but they had voted for at least hearing the proposal, while Dominic had even suggested they kill the man to send a message to the Sorcerer King that the Theocracy would not tolerate him, a move so idiotic Raymond was baffled at its suggestion.

"Dominic we understand your opposition, but we have made our decision, and besides this is on our terms, we have all available forces ready at a moment's notice to intervene should anything occur." Replied Berenice

The Cardinal of Fire had her moments of passion when certain topics came into the fold, her reasoning and deductive mentality had led her to the same conclusion has Raymond some years ago, and as the events of the last few years have proved, they were right to wait and watch.

"You've all read the reports, the Sorcerer King has been sending out these 'Invitations' to all surround nations for weeks now, it is better that we received one, I feared he may have been inviting these nations to a grand alliance against us, with this situation should we even decide to go we can at least hear what machinations he is plotting with our own ears." said Raymond

The Windflower Scripture had been very busy trying to keep up with the emissaries of the Sorcerous Kingdom, the rapid deployments of envoys had forced the clearwater scripture to get involved and help them investigate. The Cardinals knew they had sent invitations to the Dragonic Kingdom, Argland Council State and even the Elven Kingdom, the later which had slowly been reducing hostilities the last week or so.

"I am not any more comfortable with this meeting Dominic, but I also dread the idea of open hostilities with this Ainz Ooal Gown," being a divine magic caster Yvon had been one of the more aggressive supporters for war when the Sorcerous Kingdom had established itself, and had even convinced them to send envoys to the Council States, but when that produced no fruit and the Sorcerer King began doing the exact opposite of what they expected, they each had conflicting ideas on how to proceed.

Raymond was still not really okay with the idea of leaving this undead be, but he could not help but be extremely impressed with what he had been doing as of late, even if some of the circumstances seemed almost too convenient. Their contacts in the empire told them of how much wealth and growth they had been experiencing because of the policies the Sorcerer King had established. They had heard of the establishment of mandatory education centres, and establishments of state-sponsored trade schools where students would learn multiple trades and decide which best suited them, an idea that he knew had impressed even Dominic. Within the Re-Estize Kingdom the famine was not only reversed but projections stated they would be growing prosperous within a few short years, their economic system was designed with stability in mind and with the elimination of the nobility. Raymond saw how this would pave the way for lower class people to move up socially, something they cursed themselves for not b attempting to do long ago, if not for the bureaucracy inherent within human nations, even the Theocracy, it might have been possible, regardless it seemed that the hundred year downward trend of Re-Estize had been ended because of the Sorcerer King, wherever he went, time and time again, he brought with him the winds of change, to Raymond's internal admission, for the better.

'_Perhaps it is the gods will those winds blow'_

This, however, was not a thought shared by everyone, while himself, Berenice, and Ginedine have spoken often in hushed tones about the improvements, and their improving impressions about the Sorcerer King, he knew regardless of the circumstances Dominic would hate this undead and the more success he seemed to have, the more the cardinal of wind's hate grew. He even insisted that their inability to view E-Rantel was because the Sorcerer King was killing humans there for livestock and to fuel his own power, something which was contradicted by the diaspora of adventures from other nations into the city, and the unending flow of merchants and traders who seemed to visit the nation. Rumor even had It that the adventures guild there was sending out some strong members for purely exploratory expeditions, with very high-grade gear, the idea struck at the warrior in Raymond, and he often found himself questioning whether this Sorcerer King was even truly undead, this sentiment again he had shared with his two confidants and they vowed to keep it to themselves for now.

After some more outbursts from Dominic concerning his reluctance to be here and a few general nods from Yvon and even Maximilian the carriage came to a stop,

'_I guess it's time'_

They exited the large carriage into a prepared open area, it was close to one of their battalion position, and was designed to serve as a makeshift training area for soldiers. The place resembled a flat valley, with a lowered platform towards the east end and open access form all other sides where they had a hundred trained and capable knights surrounding the location. The Holocaust and Clearwater Scriptures had been called in as backup and the Black Scripture was fully outfitted and acting as personal escorts, all this was a testament to how dangerous they knew this butler's master could be.

Now it was the moment of truth, the Cardinals each exited the carriage and approached the west end of the area, here there were a few prepared seats, for all six of the Cardinals, and the ranking officer of the fort, with the Pontifex Maximus at their centre, they bid the captain of the Black Scripture to bring out the messenger.

The butler was surprising to say the least, he seems a bit older than Raymond himself, and looked completely human, it was only his warriors' instinct which hinted at the danger of this person which compelled him to think he was not looking at a normal human but a beast in man's clothing. The butler walked to the centre of the prepared area and faced them, he gave a slight bow before speaking.

"Hello honoured cardinals, I am Seba-"

"We know who you are, what do you want?!" spat Dominic

Raymond felt a little shamed by his peer's behavior.

"Dominic, our _guest_ has been courteous in meeting all of our demands, the least we can do is give him the respect of a proper introduction" replied Ginedine

There was an audible grunt, before they bid him to re-introduce himself

"I thank you, again I am Sebas Tian" he said with a slight bow: "Personal butler to his majesty the Sorcerer King Ainz Ooal Gown, as to my business, I have been instructed to deliver this invitation from my master to you, I have also been given permission, in a limited capacity, to answer any question you may have concerning its contents"

Out of his breast pocket, he took out a small black square, which he held in front of him and waited for a knight to approach and take possession of it.

"Read it" commanded the ranking officer

"I cannot ma'am there seems to be no words" replied the knight as he turned the card over and over, looking a little comedic in his demeanor

"The message will only present itself in the hands of one of the intended recipients" clarified the butler.

'_That's… actually really useful'_

As Raymond pondered the foresight the Sorcerer King clearly placed into this simple message, the knight walked forwards and placed the card in front of the assembly, a moment's hesitation occurred as they eyed who would reach for the message. Raymond making up his mind reached out and took hold of the card, a faint light glowed as the symbol of the Sorcerous Kingdom faded and words replaced it, reading them he passed the messages to the others as they each read over the message.

"This states we may bring whatever weapons we wish, what is the meaning of this?" asked the Pontifex Maximus

"My lord relays that you may bring whatever weapons you wish to ensure your safety, though he insists that none will be required, he recognizes that your trust in him is lacking and thus wishes to make you feel as comfortable as possible." replied the butler

'_He is letting us bring any weapons we want into his country?'_

Raymond could not fully comprehend this, as he pondered he looked to Ginedine, the cardinal of water had a keen intellect and was a reliable mentor to Raymond, but before he could speak the ranking officer addressed them in a quiet manner.

"The only reason to allow anyone to enter your domain with weapons is if you already know all that they have,... or.."

A few eyes widened as realization dawned on them

'_Unless you know they won't pose a threat regardless of what they bring'_

The few that noted this looked back at the butler, the same straight face present, though Raymond could swear he saw a slight hint of a smirk.

Ginedine spoke to them "The Sorcerer King is testing us, and that devil has played a great hand" he chuckled to himself, as if enjoying the confusion he caused his fellow cardinals. Though Raymond knew it was just the excitement this old man had at being faced with someone of such intellect.

"I push we accept" spoke Berenice

"I push we refuse immediately" retorted Dominic

"We must deliberate first, butler, we will have a moment of discussion and recall you once our decision has been made" the Pontifex waved for the Captain of the Black Scripture to take the butler back to his 'accommodations' once he was gone, Yvon motioned for one of his personal knights to cast anti-divination magic over their discussion.

"Why are we even speaking about this!" roared Dominic, Maximillian nodding slowly

"Because it clearly matters, we must attend" replied Ginedine

Raymond brought his hand to his cheek and thought before asking "why must we attend?"

The mentor calmly spoke "The undead has left us no choice, we are no doubt the last to be invited, he has conceded to take the initiative to come to our nation, conceded to place his personal butler under our care, ensuring his safety lest we harm him and incite war. He then proceeds to offer us free entry into his nation with any weapons we desire, the fact he did not specify the limit, size or capability of the weapon suggests, like the general spoke, he either does not fear anything we may have, or he has something that can deal with whatever we may have. While a fool would think this is it, one must realize that this undead clearly saw this from the very moment he sent those invitations, his insight must truly be far-reaching." seeing the confused faces of his comrades, he continued: "Think on it, each nation would have been given the same offer to protect themselves, yet they still chose to accept, meaning if we refuse, all of them would look at us in a suspicious light for why we would not accept. They know we are not weak, thus the only reason would be because we have a weapon we are not willing to publicly use that can threaten all of them, giving them all reason to combine forces and invade for their collective safety. Worse still they can call our faith and our message into question by naming us cowards for not pursuing an open offer at peace. This would cause massive political issues domestically as our faith places humans above everyone else by virtue of the gods, should we refuse, it would be to say we do not believe our own faith, it would be denouncing the message of our gods. The Sorcerer King has placed us in a position where we must attend or die via one means or another, we are doomed if we refuse, we must go." he laughed in a slight and unnerving manner, but his logic was sound.

Raymond had often heard that it is the monster in the dark, lurking in the shadows, which incites the most fear, but in his experience, it has always been the opposite, it was the beast which, with its intellect and power could walk proudly among them that he found most terrifying, and in his 15 years as a member of the Black Scripture, never had he felt such fear as when those words dawned, upon him, he felt trapped, bound with no options whatsoever. Remembering the circumstances in the arena which led to the vassalization of the Empire, Raymond smiled, now having some manner of relation to the emotions which must have been going through the Bloody Emperor at that moment.

'_Hahahaha, and I haven't even met the Sorcerer King yet, what the hell are we facing'_

The assembly was silent for what seemed like hours, Raymond, curious and having seen no other choice, spoke " I motion we accept"

"As do I" spoke Berenice,

"That makes three," said Pontifex,

"You all know my position, regardless of this demon's plans" said Dominic as he closed his arms.

'_Ignorant bastard' _cursed Raymond internally

"I motion we go" Yvon's voice rang softly, almost a whisper

"I too, motion we go" spoke Maximilian, sealing the decision.

They each nodded to each other, and with nervous eyes motioned for the magic spell to be canceled, as the magic faded, the Pontifex called out,

"Bring sir Sebas please"

The change in tone surprised some of the knights, clearly they understand something about the discussion had spurred them to take a slightly more respectful tone towards the envoy, as the butler stroked back, he bowed slightly again and awaited their reply.

"Please inform your master that the cardinals of the Slane Theocracy will be joining this summit for peace"

"Lord Ainz, will be _very_ pleased to hear that," said the butler with an honest smile.

'_The six help us'_


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: So this concludes the build, and next chapter will start part two which will be the summit proper, again thank you everyone, for the comments and advice, please keep reviewing and I'll strive to make my writing better along the way. One last note is that atheistbasementdragon, whom I consider one the best writers on this site, wrote a story around Blue Rose and their journey, it heavily influenced my desire to make this chapter. I borrowed some elements from it but made some alterations for my own purposes, if you have not read his work, go and check it out, it's amazing.**

**Chapter 6**

Within the Great Tomb of Nazarick, sitting behind a massive desk made of beautiful wood and hints of precious metals, was the very incarnation of death, crimson red flames occupied where the eyes should have been and it's bone white skull looked, unmoving, over a stack of office papers. This was the master of death and God of Nazarick, the last of the Supreme Beings, Ainz Ooal Gown!

'_What the hell is happening right now?'_

Ainz had been dealing with a whirlwind of change every since the Re-Estize Kingdom was somehow brought under his banner, thinking back on that whole situation he had been so confused that when anything occurred he only got more confused, and the praise he had been receiving from Albedo and Demiurge about the 'masterful execution of the plan' was just another cherry to top this pie of absolute confusion.

Ainz had been briefed on the situation in the Kingdom somewhat by Albedo following her return from the Kingdom but he had been so excited and ready to start the runecraft project that he ended up forgetting most of it or just casually relying on his trademark responses, he found that "umu", or "hmm, I see", or looking up in thought, or looking at either Albedo or Demiurge, usually got the situation moving forward.

After coming back from the Holy Kingdom he was drained and learning that the girl with the scary eyes founded a whole religion based off of him was insane, not to mention how insanely happy Demiurge and Albedo seemed to get whenever the mention of his divinity in this world was brought up, it was a little creepy.

'_I thought demons didn't believe in religion'_

What made things worse was that a little after the Re-Estize Kingdom had delved into complete civil war, which prompted more praise, and when the girl, Renner, came to Ainz and bequeathed he send aid, it was out of genuine sympathy and pity that he marshaled his resources so quickly and went to help the Re-Estize Kingdom. His honest intentions, however, seemed to translate to him making modifications to the plan which earned him even more unending praise from Albedo, Demiurge, and even the human girl, Renner.

She had been installed as the new Area Guardian over the Re-Estize kingdom but when Ainz was in a particularly bad mood remembering how corporate agents had ruined his world and made him suffer, he demolished the nobility system in the Kingdom, this move, prompted, again, more praise! Renner relentlessly told him how this genius move had allowed her to move with complete impunity and make changes with no extra steps. She had been so insolvent about him being an almighty intellect and true Supreme Being that he honestly believed she was a little sick in the head, though she seemed to get along great with Albedo, a noticed change which Ainz was happy about.

'_She seems to talk about puppies a lot though, I wonder what that's about?'_

"My lord, the humans of the Slane Theocracy have accepted the invitation," said the kneeling Sebas.

This returned the god back to reality.

Demiurge responded, "Hehe of course they did, they would have had no other choice, truly my lord, your waiting to include them last was masterful, I hadn't even thought about the psychological implications until after, absolutely wonderful."

Albedo and the other guardians chuckled at his words, eyes full of adoration and glints of lust glowed in more than just Albedo and Shalltear.

Ainz had sent the invitation to the theocracy late because he didn't think they would accept anyone who didn't look human, and when he made for Sebas to go he realized he had already sent him to the Elf Kingdom and so he decided to wait, somehow this had gone to his favour… again.

Continuing on Sebas said: "As you said my lord, we can also be sure they may have been the ones who used the world item [Downfall of Castle and Country] on Shalltear, the equipment some of their soldiers were wearing seemed as if it came from Yggdrasil."

Ainz had been extra cautious with the Theocracy because he had deduced that they might have secret 'Players' within, he had even changed their invitation to allow for any weapons so they could feel more comfortable about conversing with him, a move he had developed while being a salaryman,

'_if you let someone come at their terms, they will be more willing to hear you out'_

"Sebas, is there anyone of note we should be worried about?"

"No my lord, the humans were strong by this world's standards, the strongest, a male, perhaps a few levels beyond Lupusregina, but even with their equipment I would say they are no match for anyone at level 65 or beyond"

"Very good, you've done excellent work Sebas"

"I live to serve you my lord"

"Now we should have an idea of how to move forward if the Six Great Gods truly were players, and one of them is still around, this meeting should draw them out" Ainz said looking out over his guardians he paused his gaze over Shalltear noticing her small tremors.

"Shalltear, when the time is right, you will have your revenge, these humans will be made to pay for their arrogance, now my guardians, prepare for the summit, let us impress upon this world the majesty of Ainz Ooal Gown!"

The speech seemed to excite everyone present, even the maid, sixth, seemed ready and raring to go, a dangerous look of determination in her eyes.

'_Man this is exhausting'_

* * *

Lakyus had seen a lot during the course of their time in the Holy Kingdom, they had seen bizarre demi-human settlements, and humans commanding undead, a sight which was getting easier to reason now that the Re-Estize Kingdom was adopting the same methods at an alarming rate. This, however, this was something else entirely, Blue Rose had arrived on the outskirts of E-Rantel days ago, and the city had completely changed, the line of incoming and outgoing merchants and visitors was impressive, the massive statues of the Sorcerer King flanking either side of the city gates was impressive, the powerful looking human and demihuman guards on the outsides marshaling people through was impressive, when they had been given a brief summary of the city laws on the undead patrol guards and how to not draw weapons unless in danger, they had accepted it, but when looking at those goliaths of black metals and brutal power, even she, an Adamantite adventurer, found them, impressive.

They had stationed their horses outside one of the more luxurious inns within the residential portion of the city, the Shining Gold Pavillion, they had been surprised to find that their rooms had already been bought and paid for,

'_Benefits of traveling as his Majesty's vassals I guess' _thought Lakyus

Their room was splendid, a massive four bed suite, with a common area, the bedrooms had impressively comfortable beds and private bathrooms, each bath had a 'Jacuzzi' feature, some form of tub which was recently introduced as an invention out of Carne, it was filled with water and magically heated to high temperatures, she had been skeptical at first but after soaking in it she was transported to pure bliss, after that she was absolutely hooked.

Her sisters, she found were also similarly overwhelmed, they had escorted the King and Prime Minister to meet with the 'Guardian Overseer' of the Sorcerous Kingdom yesterday, and Lakyus could still not get that divine beauty out of her mind. She had always believed herself to be of the upper echelon in her appearance and was confident that her looks were, like those of her friend Renner, beautiful, but being around that woman, made her feel inadequate in ways she could not so much as be angry or even jealous about, she knew that was not a level of beauty any human, any mortal creature could even approach.

"Still thinking about her?" asked Tia,

Flustered, both her and Gagaran spoke at the same time

"Shut up!"

They all laughed at the moment, "I don't blame you, she was something else" commented Evileye, who was uncharacteristically happy about being here.

Well, Lakyus knew why, they had been granted an audience with the Sorcerer King, and Momon would be in attendance as well, something which nearly fainted Evileye on the spot, but Lakyus was more excited about speaking with the King.

"I'm not sure how today will go, but if you ask me, anyone who has a beauty like that working for them has to be a God." said Gagaran bluntly

"I can't really find an argument there" agreed Tia and TIna

Lakyus was following a similar mindset,

"I'm more impressed with this city, all these races, living side by side, it's amazing" spoke Eveileye, she caressed her mask softly, prompting Lakyus to think of a question they all had, but would not ask.

'_When she's ready, I'm sure she'll let us see, though she's been doing that more often these days'_

Lakyus spoke "I agree, I had not believed until I saw it with my own eyes, this place really is wonderous, the Sorcerer King has done so much here"

Her opinion of the undead king had been improving ever since they had left the Holy Kingdom and after seeing the changes to their home country, it had increased even more, but being at the seat of his power, seeing the first place he changed, she felt overwhelming gratitude, even adoration for a being she had yet to meet, that was soon bound to change.

Blue Rose had been ushered back to the palace, it was functional and very ordinary, having just enough to impress the efficiency which was required of a monarch, but nothing more, nothing grand or showboating.

Evileye found that feature refreshing, after visiting so many kings and queens throughout her life, she had started to be bored by how much their ego would affect their surroundings.

When the maid, who was almost inhumanly beautiful had led them not to the throne room but to a separate estate next to around the palace on a raised hill, they had been surprised.

"Lord Ainz is waiting for you within" said the maid respectfully as she opened the door.

They stepped into the wide room, there was a simple yet large enough desk directly in front of them, papers were neatly scattered along its surface along with a few pens, to one side was a large collection of books coordinated by colour and five simple yet comfortable looking chairs were placed in a semicircle in front of it. The room itself has large and inviting, yet what caught her eye, was not the features, it was the being standing with its back to them looking out of the large windows. The windows were such that they could allow a fully grown man to jump out of them if need be, around 5 feet in total height and allowed for a lot of light to enter the room, it was this feature, which seemed to bathe the being in an almost divine transcendent light.

Evileye felt her heart jump at the sight, moving towards him as if drawn to its radiance. She quickly stole a glance behind her to Lakyus, and saw in her eyes a reverence for the sight in front of them, she seemed mesmerized, as they all were, slowly the figure turned, he was dressed in a royal purple robe, lined with reams of gold and red, it made him look absolute in his position as king, and as he faced them, Evileye could see nothing but absolute power within the red points in his eyes, they seemed to survey the group before stopping at her for a moment, and she heard him say in a tone inaudible to humans "a vampire?" her hearted lurched, and fear seemed to spread itself within her, she froze in place and couldn't think of anything else.

'_He knows?!'_

* * *

Lakyus being the first out of the daze, immediately fell to her knees, the rest of Blue Rose following suit, Lakyus had seen kings, and monsters, fought demons and angels, but she had never seen a god, in spite of her self she was sure the being standing in front of them now, was nothing less than divine.

"You may rise" a voice called out to them, it was rich and deep, robust and reinforced with absolute strength, determination, and confidence, just like how a God would sound.

She lifted her head to meet its eyes, in front of her was a sight she could never forget, when the Sorcerer King had turned the light which had been almost draping itself around his form, seemed to intensity, the immaculately clean white bone which was his skull glowed faintly with the light, giving him a halo of sorts, and the robe which extended all the way to his wrists exposed two bony hands, each finger had on it a single ring, varying in colour, but from each one she could could feel magical power beyond anything she had ever felt before, being a mix of a healer and a warrior, Lakyus had some measure to gauge magic power, and while she was absolutely blown away by the rings, she felt from the king himself,... nothing, no magic whatsoever, while he exuded strength from every part of his body, it did not seem magical in nature.

'_Perhaps this is the feeling of true power'_

She steeled herself to reply to this entity beyond reason, "We thank you, your Majesty, my name is Lakyus Alvein Dale Aindra, these are my companions and sisters, our twin thieves, Tia and Tina, our warrior, Gagaran, and magic caster, Evileye, we are the Blue Roses."

"Your reputation and adventures precedes you, welcome, I am the King of the Sorcerous Kingdom, Ainz Ooal Gown, please won't you have a seat?"

With each word she felt a wave of power hit her, and the courteous tone at which he spoke those words made him seem more,... human?

The stunned group found their ways to the seats, waiting until their host had taken his own seat before sitting. The King waved to his maid who quickly furnished some ornate glassware and a strange orange drink, they each took one happily and stole a drink, save for Evileye who held hers like a small child would hold their hot cocoa {an: couldn't resist adding that phrase sorry}

Lakyus took a simple sip of the drink, resolving to ask her question immediately after, when… like a wave crashing upon a shore she was blown away by the taste before she could voice her opinion in her mind,

"HOLY HELL THIS IS FANTASTIC!" she heard Gagaran say, had she not been in the middle of her own mind-blowing flavourful adventure, she would have reprimanded her. The usually stoic twins both had their eyes light up, glance at each other, back to the drink and finished it with impressive speed, Evileye, almost touched her mask as she saw all this occur, before the king laughed and spoke.

"If you all like that, then please enjoy, there is plenty more, simply ask Decrement, you may even try another type of drink if you so desire."

'_This must be heaven, and he hasn't even said anything yet'_

"We will your Majesty, thank you" said Lakyus with slight excitement at having more of this and to calm herself for the discussion to come.

"Excellent, now I know you have questions, but before we begin, I wish to express my deepest gratitude for your work in the Holy Kingdom, you helped a lot of people there, and I have truly thankful."

This pillar of power and divinity then inclined itself to them in thanks, a move which seemed to have flustered the maid and Blue Rose even more, Lakyus quickly took to asking the king to not bow his head,

"No, your Majesty, please do not bow your head, we simply were doing our jobs, though thank you very much for your words, my sisters and I saw a lot while we were there, they would be lost without the food and aid your country sends."

Honestly, she was frightened to think what her own country would be like if not for the Sorcerer King.

"while I fought Jaldabaoth for my own purposes, helping them rebuild is but my duty, it pains me to see the innocent suffer unneeded."

As he spoke she felt respect well up within her, here was a king who would venture to the aid of those he would never know or meet, simply because he had the means, something she knew a lot of people in power would never do.

"Speaking of this, your Majesty, I wished to ask you about some things which have been plaguing my mind for some time now."

He inclined his head slightly to let her know to continue,

"We've seen a lot in our adventures within the last few years, and a lot of it has led me to question how the world is, but more so, the things you've done, the actions you've taken to help nations which aren't connected to you, I just want to know why?"

She leaned forward doe-eyed, she could see that the others were similarly interested, though occasionally they would revel in the drinks.

"If I am not mistaken Ms. Aindra, your family was nobility in the Kingdom"

"Yes your Majesty, prior to your dismantling of the system, we were" Lakyus answered, wondering where he was going

"And let me ask you, do you know anything of the term '_Noblesse Oblige'_?"

She thought hard for a few moments, calling upon her education: "No I can't say I have ever heard of anything like that"

"I would not have presumed so, it is not a concept native to this world, in my time watching, I saw that those in power would not fit any form of _Noblesse Oblige_, there are some exceptions of course, such as yourselves who would fit within this term."

He allowed a second of silence to fill the air before continuing,

"A long time ago, I had visited a land called France, where this term came from, to simplify it means that those in power, those who rule have an obligation to serve those without, the privileged and the fortunate carry the responsibility to help those who have none."

The idea blew her away,

"This obligation extends to everyone, peasants, strangers, kings, emperors, even gods, and it is the requirement to understand that those with power are servants to those without, the strong to protect the weak, the rich to help the poor, and thus you ask me why I do these things, to answer, it is because I can, because it is my obligation to do so."

As he finished, she saw the maid, take a cloth and whip tears from her eye, reverence clearly written on her face.

She had in all her life never thought of her compulsion to do her work, she had always attributed it to the will of her god, or the call to be graceful, but throughout the course of her adventures she found herself questioning the very basis for the gods, she saw that it could not simply be grace, perhaps this was it.

It was as if some massive cog had been set straight in her mind, she took the time to process this information, to truly understand what it meant, and to delve into herself for the answers she had been seeking, something though still nagged at her...

"But you're ….. undead, why care about the living?" said Lakyus softly, almost ashamed to say the words, clearly this being was anything but

He laughed slightly "I plan to address that more when the summit is commenced but let me say this to you,... perhaps it is not me who should answer that question for you" his eyes moved, she was confused, and followed his line of sight, … towards Evileye.

"I have seen a myriad of things in my life, wonders which becker the imagination, and countless tragedies, in times where I was powerless to anything, this is but one of the reasons I have chosen to act. I have seen events transpire because people refuse to change, they keep themselves in their predispositions while the world moves on, they become bitter and either retreat into themselves or lash out at everything around them. Yet there is a point in each case, where they could have stopped to see what was around them, to accept that life now is not as it was, and decide to move on, or to remain as they are, prisoners of their own past."

Those words had indeed resonated with her, but she couldn't shake the feeling they were not fully meant for her, and it seems she was correct, as Evileye tensed and in a soft voice asked,

"You know, don't you?"

"I do" he replied

"But how?"

"Umu, how to best explain, let's say I have a passive skill which allows me knowledge on such things, …. you should tell them"

Lakyus felt her heart skip a beat, she and the rest of her team seemed to swallow at the same time.

"..."

"There was a time once, when I had with me 40 of my closest friends, for years, we adventured together, built, played, and died together, for them I would of sacrifice anything, .. anyone. Those moments with them shaped me, built me to who I am, we were a family, but most importantly we were honest about everything, we accepted each other, and grew stronger because of it. I can see your team is close, as sisters as you so introduced yourselves, it is this which drives me to say so, your leader, Ms. Aindra, would be more than satisfied with her question, if you were to answer it." he encouraged her

There was a moment of silence, Evileye sighed, and she reached for her mask, paused to touch it, almost confirming it was still there, before she began to slowly remove it, within time a small mouth was in view, youth splattered all over it, a nose which spoke of innocence, and finally, as the mask came off, a pair of bright blood red eyes meet Lakyus' gaze,

A few gasps of breath could be heard, and she finally understood.

A tear formed out of Lakyus eye as she looked at her sister, all this time she had been questioning, all this time she had been hating something she didn't understand, all this time she had been wrong

"So you see, people are complex, regardless of their status, to assume my being an undead means I cannot do that which I have done is to deny me my being, to marginalize me into acceptable stereotypes for convenience, just as the world has good and bad, so too do people, I hope this but helps even a little in understanding." said the Sorcerer King

"It does your Majesty, it really does" said Lakyus now almost crying, she turned to her sister, questions forming left and right, before asking the most important of them all,

"...What's your name?"

Surprised Evileye smiled, it was a sweet smile, reminding her that nothing had changed, that they all still loved her,

"Keeno Fasris Inberun" she replied tears welling in her eyes

"That's a beautiful name"


	7. Chapter 7

**AN: So now we begin, I'll try to include a bit more detail and have the chapters be longer, but overall you'll notice that the summit itself will be more based on philosophy and dialogue, though expect some fight scenes to come soon, [dragons anyone?] but more than that, thank you again everyone for the reviews, I'll try to improve the grammar more and proofread a bit better.**

**Chapter 7**

"Your Majesty, E-Rantel is insight, our outriders report the road is clear and we have a representative waiting for us"

"Thank you," said Draudillon

She had been very much dreading this day, her anxiety had gotten so bad she had nearly drunk herself silly each night for the past week, but regardless here it was, the Summit would start soon. She had received another message on the black card the dark elves had brought her, it stated an inn to arrive to, and a room prepared for her.

'_Seems the Sorcerer King has some manners at least' _

Looking over to the man across from her, she said in an annoyed voice.

"Wake up, I know you're not asleep" she said

Her Prime Minister popped open one eye, looking quite annoyed,

"You could at least let me pretend I am"

"I don't get a drink, you don't get to sleep, its half your fault we're in this mess" she replied

"These last two months of peace have made you complain more, not that I've minded" he snarked

It was true, she couldn't remember the last time she had had such peace, at first she had believed that it was too good to be true, she had stationed extra guards and sentries to watch for the Beastmen, when none came, day after day, week after week, she found herself doing more administrative tasks and taking time to prepare her cities once more for any wave which may come, she may have been anxious to meet the Sorcerer King, but she was very much hoping this summit would have him as her ally, they had even prepared to bring up the idea of becoming a vassal state like the Re-Estize Kingdom or the Empire.

They came to a stop, the guard outside discussed with a young man in very nice armour, he seemed to be giving him a sort of brief, she looked around from her window and was very surprised to see demi-humans in similar armour walking alongside humans surveying the perimeter of the city gates.

'_So it's true'_

Draudillon had had a hard time believing that humans and demi-humans were living together in this city, after the constant onslaught of the Beastmen, she had not believed many demi-humans saw people as anything more than food, or toys to hunt and kill, but here they were.

After some time, the knight came into her carriage, and as they were ushered through the city, he told them of the rules of the city, the general layout, and as he was explaining something about a naga, she saw it.

Standing guard beside the inner wall, carrying a pitch black tower shield, and a wavy chipped sword at its side, behind its armour was something akin to rusted blood and veins could be seen leading to its terrifying eyes, the form it took was of absolute death, and she felt pure terror, just as she was fixated on this darkness manifest flesh, a seemingly ordinary group of children appeared behind it, one of them, a small scaly lizard-child, pointed across a road and the massive creature moved to intercept incoming traffic to allow the children to cross safely, she stared with her eyes nearly popping out of her skull as the children, Human, Toadman, Lizardman and more, happily bounced unafraid under the protection of this monstrosity, with annoyed cart drivers just lazily waiting as the creature ensure all the children were past before stepping out of the way and clearing the road again.

Slumping back into her seat, Draudillion questioned her centuries of life

'_... What did I just witness? '_

* * *

In a particular carriage, riding towards the city gates of E-Rantel was a strange assortment of colourful dragonoids, one had scales which were crisp and a beautiful blue, another an almost clear white, sitting next to her was one whose scales were as black as obsidian, the last was a fit elderly looking dragonoid, with almost no distinguishable marks save for the missing arm and green earthly tinge to his scales. Each of them radiated an impressive power, but the most notable of the single individual wearing full plate armour, it was a sight to see, white scaled armour riddled the entire suit, giving it a platinum appearance and slight shine, it shoulderpads were two ferocious dragon heads and running along the sides of the armour was a furry material leading into a half cape decorating the rear, there was a single long piece of cloth going from the top of the forehead, and back towards the back of the armour. This was the Argland high council, it had been a very long time since all five of these powers been together, and this situation had taken many long series of debates, arguments, and concessions to come about, but here they were.

"Seems we are near the city now"

"We should have flown, this wouldn't have taken so long" said Suveria

The Blue Sky Dragonlord had been the most annoying of the group, a statement which had made the journey difficult for each of them,

"Enough of the complaining, we're here now" spoke the Obsidian Dragonlord visibly annoyed by the constant comments.

The armour moved its head, looking towards the front as the carriage came to a halt, a knocked was heard.

"Come in" said the Worm Dragonlord

Their escort, a knight of the Argland State, more of a formality than real protection, came in,

"A member of the E-Rantel guard wishes to board and explain the city rules as well as guide us to our destination"

"Very well, bring them"

The guard member, a rather impressive demi-human came in and bowed, they greeted the council and began explaining the weapon policies and differences which would be seen within the city proper, after their conclusion they bowed and left the carriage.

They began to enter the city, with the twin lords looking to each side to catch glimpses of the almost otherworldly events which transpired before them, taking note of the undead patrolling the street like common foot soldiers.

"There really are Death Knights everywhere, this is absurd." spoke the Blue Sky Dragonlord, clearly awed

The rest were similarly impressed, looking with both caution and intrigue at the wide mix of races and people littering the street, buying and selling, seemingly going about their lives.

"They all seem to be at peace, there seem to be almost no issues, never would I have guessed anything like this could happen." said the Worm Dragonlord, mesmerised by the sight, impressed by the potential around him, the efficiency of it all.

"These invaders [Players] are extremely dangerous do not forget that, but yes, there seems to be peace here, for now" spoke the armour, there was slight bitterness in its metallic voice

"Perhaps this one will be different"

".. perhaps, or perhaps we are all walking into a trap" replied the armour

"You brought those weapons of yours did you not, the ones from the castle you've taken as your nest"

"Yes, and should I have need of them, you should all run, the spells locked within are 9th tier magic, they're as potent as my ultimate explosion"

"By the ancestors, 9th tier! is that even real?" asked the Blue Sky Dragonlord also shouting

"It very much is, and I pray it will be enough if anything happens"

Annelida responded: "We have come here under the assumption of peaceful negotiation, I for one have no wish for a fight, war will bring nothing but death and destruction, a cycle we cannot repeat again"

"Than let us pray this Sorcerer King is what he seems to be" responded the armour, looking away into the city.

* * *

Raymond was staring, awed by the sight in front of him, his nerves were on edge, as were those of his fellow Cardinals but he could not but help stealing glances at the city. The Cardinals had brought members of the Black Scriptures as personal escorts, they had each been given godly weapons from the vault, and for added measure each Cardinal had one of the sacred artifacts on their person, there was only 8 in total, and these six were the second most powerful, only being surpassed by the two crystals containing the 11th tier magic of the gods, the spell [Fallen Down]. The ones they had, each contained an 8th tier angel, while it was true that the Theocracy could, through a long and unpredictable ritual summon a 7th tier angel, the weapons they held now were much more powerful and had been given to them by their gods, to be used only in the most extreme of emergencies.

They had arrived in E-Rantel and been briefed on the decorum expected while in the city. For whatever reason the Sorcerer King had chosen to make a mix of human and demi-human guards be their escorts, the demihuman, a lizardman with a strange mark upon his chest seemed confident and full of himself, he wore fairly standard equipment for a mage, having light leathers with sigils engraved into it and holding a staff, the interesting thing was the runes that covered the staff, they seemed to radiate from it. The human for her part was also similarly outfitted in high grade armour, she had full plate armour covering visible bands of leather, the plate seemed to be made from Mythril and the Oricalcum plate hanging from her neck spoke to her power, they spoke to them of the city and what to expect, and of the undead monsters roaming the streets.

He was admittedly very impressed with the level of technology that seemed to be used within the city, the roads looked almost new and had strange carvings, when they had asked what they were, they were baffled to learn that they protected against damage and any sort of weather alteration, remaining dry and firm all year, ensuring safety. He had taken particular note of a human bargaining loudly with a demi-human merchant over fish prices, going back and forth, the normality of the situation left him at a loss for words, when another individual had tried to sneak in and ruin the deal both the human and demihuman had collectively reprimanded them.

'_It's as if I've left and landed in some new strange world'_

"How long have you lived here?" asked Ginedine to the human guard, completely ignoring the lizardman

"I moved here 3 years ago, after his Majesty had announced his plan for the adventurers guild, and it was the best decision I've ever made." replied the woman cheerfully

"I thought the Sorcerer King dissolved the adventurers guild here, and nationalized it" asked Raymond,

"He did, we all work for his Majesty technically, though to be honest he trusts all the administrative work and training to master Ainzach, he usually summons us for exploration missions or if we are promoting or getting awards."

"About half a year ago my team and I had made some discovery down south, a new type of ore mine in the Abelion Hills, the King personally praised and rewarded our work, haha we got a massive bonus on top of free runecrafted gear, it was amazing" she continued happily

"That's very generous,... for a monster" snarked Dominic

"Perhaps you should first meet his Majesty before you make your comments about him" the lizardman spoke in a low tone, eyes glaring at the Cardinal of Wind

"Do not speak creature, you dirty my air with your presence" replied Dominic, the situation was turning hostile

"Urhanz, let's cool it" said the female, she turned her eyes back to Dominic before continuing: "I know of how the Theocracy thinks, and a few years back I would of agreed with you, but Urhanz has saved my life and my team on more occasions than I care to count, he's like a brother to me, and while I cannot speak on everyone's behalf I think you'll find there are very few people here, human or otherwise, who will take kindly to you speaking ill about his Majesty."

It was a clear warning as if sensing Dominic's growing rage Berenice spoke before any more could escape his lips.

"We are just concerned, he is undead afterall, and demihumans have not always been kind to us humans"

"I understand, and I think it's why his Majesty pushed to have integrated teams like ours, it helps to show how similar we all are, everyone just wants to live and be safe, I won't ask your reasons for coming here, I was honestly surprised when we got our mission to escort you, or even that you came at all, but as one human to another, when you speak with his Majesty, don't think of him as some undead, actually take what he says, everytime I interact with him its like im taught something new, he always feels so relatable and cares for the little things, he even remembered me when we met again and was concerned about something I had mentioned at an earlier meeting, you may not believe me, but he cares, and he has done alot to ensure we all get everything we need, and it's not just us adventures, ask any merchant, teacher, mage, or guard, and they'll have their own story."

Her words were powerful, and Raymond could tell Berenice had taken them for introspection, even Yvon looked to think on them for a moment,

"We are approaching the Pavillion, we will be leaving you to the inn's servants, it was a pleasure to escort you," she said as they came to their destination.

The Cardinals were not lacking in funds, while they did not get paid, they could use the nation's wealth for national visits and what not, but what they had found interesting what that the Sorcerer King had already paid for their rooms for the entire duration of the Summit, while in normal circumstances it would of been seen as a kind gesture, there were a few who swore that it had malicious intent, namely the Cardinal of Wind.

As they existed the carriage the members of the Black Scripture who were with them, numbers 2 to 4 and the Captain existed first, making sure to keep a tight perimeter in case of an attack or anything of the sort, as each Cardinal disembarked they were halted by a loud roar high above the city, fearing an attack the Black Scripture took defensive positions and the last individual who was with them came out of the carriage at near lightning speeds and flashed her great scythe in a display of great strength and agility. Looking up they were all terrified to see a small school of dragons flying above the city, all white, carrying what seemed to be crates of some sort, the dragons descended in a different part of the city, and the confusion wrought by the event was evident on everyone.

"'... what the hell was that?" asked the Cardinal of Light, clearly scared, as a divine magic caster he spent most of his time in temples, praying and conducting rituals, not facing down threats of any kind and especially not anything close to dragons.

"Don't forget the city rules, put away your weapons," said the female adventure as she too disembarked, "though you" looking at the mysterious member with the scythe: "you're really fast."

As Raymond gave the order for them to place their arms away, he turned to the woman and asked: "You'll have to forgive us but we don't often see anything like that, what were those dragons doing?"

"They're delivering the mail" she responded casually before adding "I wonder if my package came" under her breathe in an excited tone.

Baffled by the notion, the Cardinal of WInd asked blatantly: "Mail, what is this mail?"

"It's something his Majesty came up with and implemented about a year or so ago, people can go to the post stations in any city with letters or packages they wish to send, they than mark the designator to whom its going to and where, after paying the appropriate fee, its sent to those people, usually taking a few days, one can exchange gifts, important items and even more through the system."

Raymond was blown away, a trend that was starting to become a little frequent to him since this summit was announced, he considered the implications of such a system, how it could revolutionise the growth of a nation.

"By the Gods, that could exponentially increase the ability for communication, commerce, policy and law distribution, and a nation's growth in general, though what of the average citizen?" his mentor, Ginedine was very much excited at the idea.

"His Majesty had mandated that everyone should have a basic education and learn how to read and write, it's taking on a lot better with children with almost all of them now knowing some basics because they can go to the primary schools, but i think last I heard among adults we had about a sixty-three percent rate of literacy"

The whole group stared at her dumb founded, among massive nations only nobility or equivalently required jobs knew how to read or write, but for the common people to do so, was unheard of, for it to be so high is almost impossible.

"How does he mandate it?" Ginedine followed up

"We are given incentives to do so, depending on what you do for a living, some were given financial incentives, some were given undead labour for interest-free terms, and others go plots of land and what not, overall it motivated people to learn, and it's definitely worked," she responded

"Amazing" he heard his teach say before he clearly went off into his own inner world to think about the idea more.

'"A-and the dragons?" asked Maximilian,

"His Majesty had claimed a whole nest of dragons some years ago and they pledged fealty to him, afterwards he puts them to honest labour by delivering packages and the like, I hear they get paid really well, the lucky bastards."

"He uses dragons,... To deliver letters?"

"Yea, I was shocked too at first, but you get used to it, they're also really nice, sometimes they'll do you favours and get things to you faster, I hear one of our adventuring teams actually just got one of the dragons as a warrior, it was the talk of the town for quite a while."

Raymond and the rest of his group were struck, so much had occurred that he couldn't remember checking in and going to his room, but as the situation dawned on him he calmed himself and called the Black Scripture to him.

* * *

In side his chamber, he asked 5 to cast anti-divination magic and spoke to the members they had brought, all together, they had 6 members of the Black Scripture, including the two God-kin, Slyvin Lenois Struve and the extra seat, Zesshi Zetsumei. There had been a lot of debate on whether to bring their secret weapon, as her existence was extremely confidential, but they decided to have her come as a masked escort along with the rest of the Black Scripture and permission had been given that if they had the chance they would have her kill the Elven King, if not more of their adversaries if they could get away with it, ultimately she was extremely excited to come and had been cheerfully playing along to her role as a random hire for protection.

"Tomorrow we will be heading to the palace, you all know your identities, do not compromise them, no matter what, Zesshi, you are to remain calm regardless of what occurs unless you see an opportunity to kill the Elf King."

"Hmm. and the undead? What about him?" a devilish smile blooming on her face

"That I cannot say, we must deliberate more before we can decide something of that magnatude, killing a king in his own country will be seen as a mark of war, but we may save humanity if we can."

Even as he said these words, Raymond did not fully believe them, truly he has started to have a growing opinion of the Sorcerer King, something he would be discussion with Ginedine and Berenice shortly,

"Are you sure about that hehe, this place seems pretty nice" she teased

"Zesshi, it is still undead, mind yourself" the Captain corrected,

"Ha, whatever, so long as i get a good challenge out of him, that's all I care for, it's too bad I can't reproduce with the undead, I'm sure we could of made strong children indeed hehehe"

Raymond was a little sickened by her similarity to her father, of their shared desire to sire offspring of capable strength, but he reasoned himself back.

"Keep your masks on and stay within sight of your Cardinal; you are al dismissed."

After the Black Scripture had left, Raymond moved to the rooms common's area, where the Pontifex Maximus and Cardinals of Fire and Water were sitting discussion what he guess was the things they had seen today.

"Raymond, come we were just getting started, what do you think of all this?" asked Berenice

"To be honest, it's nothing like I imagined, at best I had thought the undead would leave them be, when I heard he was allowing demi humans into the city, I thought they would prey upon the humans here, but this, this is beyond what i could of even dreamed of."

"Indeed, I'm not sure what exactly to think in this situation, nothing is as it should be, I dare not assume anything for fear of being overwhelmed yet again"

"I went to the latrine and I was shocked to find some smooth contraption there, when I had finished, it sensed by movements had ceased and released water to clean me, I was so surprised I nearly shit myself again," said Ginedine in a solemn tone.

"Indeed, the technology here is leagues and bounds beyond anything i have ever seen, prior to coming i was soaking in that big tub with steaming water, i dare admit to enjoying the experience, if the Sorcerer King was trying to defeat us with comfort, i for one would not know how to resist." said Berenice

"The question remains, what do we do?"

"I think the first thing is to make sure Dominic shuts up during the summit, we cannot risk his mouth bringing us to war with the Sorcerous Kingdom, while it's true the luxury and technology here is beyond reason, you all also saw the capability for those things to be used for war, he could mobilize, arm and command troops at lightning speeds, not to mention how powerful those adventures seem to be, and they were considered normal, the power in this city is comprehensible, and that is not including the power of the Sorcerer King himself." spoke the Pontifex

There were nods of approval, Raymond let his mind come to him, he thought of the events of the day and dreaded to think of what sort of wonders they would see tomorrow, and as he came back to reality something nagged at his soul, an inquiry he felt he could share with the group of people around him.

"What if,..."

Everyone looked to him, questioning the next words he might say, perhaps some of them had even guessed, he could see Berenice was already thinking of how to respond and found she was in a similar state as him.

"What if we were wrong about the Sorcerer King?"


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Jircniv was having a fantastic day, he had brought his empress along on official visits to the Sorcerous Kingdom before, usually involving waiting for an audience before sitting through meetings about the state of the empire, transfer of criminals and edicts which he wished to get permission for before enacting. However, this time, being able to enjoy the city and the variable sights were quite the experience, seeing firsthand the birthplace of his masters' domain was brilliant. He had taken Basir to see his good friend and fellow vassal Pe Riyuro, Riyuro had an appetite for small lizards but was always clean in his eating of them, never being so messy as to make himself seem like a savage. After their date, when they had returned to the royal palace for the meeting they were surprised to find that most of the invited party was there waiting, the Re-Estize Kingdom, Argland Council State, and Elf Kingdom representatives were already sitting and waiting. He had an idea that everyone else would soon be arriving, meaning they would be seeing his Majesty soon, and Jircniv could not wait.

Word had spread quickly that the summit was soon to commence and extra guards had been stationed to ensure no excited citizens intruded upon their guests. Jircniv quickly found his seat, he brought with him his full support staff with Roune, a few magic casters, his foreign affairs minister and two of his trusted knights, 'Lightning' Baziwood Peshmel and 'Violent Gale' Nimble Arc Dale Anok. Taking his seat after ensuring his empress was comfortable, he nodded to the representatives of the Re-Estize Kingdom, noting that behind them stood the famous Blue Roses, Jircniv had heard the group had been called to the Holy Kingdom for an extended mission, while he did not know the details he understood that they had experienced quite a bit in their time there. Jircniv proceeded to ask the attending maid to bring him one of the almost divine drinks his Majesty had on hand, secretly this was always a highlight of his visits.

Jircniv had met with King Zanec and Prime Minister Renner a few days before the scheduled summit time, both to formally welcome them under the banner of his Majesty and to exchange collected information on the intended purpose of the summit. In all reality, he was there to speak with Renner as even he knew the circumstances effectively placed her as the true ruler, something he was quite happy about, while she has been moved to his list of women to never trust, he found her pleasant to talk to. They quickly took to discussing what sort of cunning scheme the God of Death must have been planning, they each believed that the inclusion of the Slane Theocracy was most likely the overarching goal of this summit but could not work out why or even how their master had convinced those theocratic zealots to leave their capital and meet with him.

'_There are indeed some more sensible Cardinals, but I was sure they would refuse any invitation, regardless of how pleasantly it was worded'_

As they reasoned it must have been some clever move that only his Majesty could have pulled off they took to hypothesizing how the Cardinals would react to seeing their once proud ideals of human superiority shattered by the existence of a city like E-Rantel, to see the peace of co-existence rather than the hateful speeches they spread in their faith, even more so was their discussion about the girl, Neia Baraja, and her spreading ideal that Ainz Ooal Gown was a living God, something they discussed on length, both concluding that it must indeed be so, for only a true divine being could so brazenly wield such power, intellect, and wealth.

As opposed to the Cardinals of the Slane Theocracy, less surprising was the presence of the individuals sitting across from him, the high council of the Argland States, his spies reported that they had surprising kept to themselves during their stay in E-Rantel, going out a few times to look at the demi-human district and to view the city. He understood they did not particularly enjoy spending too much time around humans but there were some things he could not understand one being why the Platinum Dragonlord was clad in full armour. Jircniv had had dealings with the Argland Council State prior to his submitting to his master, but never had he met all the dragonlords, while he mostly spoke with the Worm Dragonlord, he was surprised to find how annoying he found the Blue Sky Dragonlord, someone who reminded him surprisingly of the Cardinal of Wind, a pair of truly imbecilic beings in their tendencies for mouthing off before fully thinking.

'_I cannot wait to view their reactions when they meet his Majesty'_

Another surprise to him was the Elf King who sat almost mute in his seat, he seemed apathetic and uninterested, his retinue consisting mainly of elven women in warrior garbs, Jircniv had done enough of his own investigations to know that this king, while powerful, was extremely cruel, indifferent, and warmongering, sending his people, women and his own children mostly, to the front lines to fight and die in the hopes of them awakening some form of power which he believed they possessed. While he did indeed seem strong, Jircniv could guess this king had never seen true absolute power, the sort which defies any real measure of reason of logic, thinking on the events which were about to transpire and how the king might take to realizing how little he is in the face of his master or his attendants, a sinister smile fell on his face for a few moments.

'_Oh you'll learn fool'_

Just as the moment was fading the door opened and a maid ushered in a pair he was mostly dreading to meet, the Queen of the Dragon Kingdom, Draudillon Oriculus and her Prime Minister Aulter Versmo, accompanied no less by the adamantine team Crystal Tear and its disgusting pedophile of a leader, Cerabrate.

Jircniv was always disgusted by her pandering to that creep, he know that she was no loli, her age being many times his own, yet her insistence to keep the image alive annoyed him to no end, but he could not underestimate or disregard her love for her people or her skill as a leader, enduring such things to ensure she had enough aide to help at least slow the Beastman advances which befell her country was if anything a sign of a true monarch. There was a good part of him that could guess that she had been enjoying the relative peace she had been bought by the Sorcerous Kingdom, his minister had informed him that the pair of dark elves had gone personally to invite her. They reportedly had devastated the advancing Beastman line, killing thousands and forcing a retreat under the threat of invasion by the Sorcerous Kingdom should they bother the Dragon Kingdom during the lead up and entire course of the Summit, and he could guess from her slightly relaxed attitude, it was a threat that was very much working.

'_She may even petition to be made a vassal by the end of this'_

While he knew hundreds of thousands of citizens of the Dragon Kingdom would be saved by the action, the thought of her being his fellow in the Sorcerer King's court made him a touch annoyed, something he swallowed because it may be part of his master's plan.

He took the time to think on the matter while Draudillon went to her seat, and was brought a cup of the divine nectar served by his Majesty, he could tell by how wide her eyes got the moment she took to drinking it that she was absolutely blown away, a feeling of nostalgia from when he first had tried the beverage, in his good mood he decided to entice her obviously glow review of the beverage.

"Don't worry, it gets better"

He said to her out loud,

Surprised by his comment, she inclined to ask,

"... how so?"

"If my estimates are correct, his Majesty will not be having this meeting here, this palace is too, … ordinary to entertain the noble guests of his Majesty."

Clear surprise was seen on the faces of most of the attendants, with only a few truly knowing the meaning behind those words, he smiled, being privy to knowledge about the true domain his master inhabited.

'What do you mean?"

"It won't be long, you'll see"

This seemed to have gotten everyone attention, even his wife to a degree, she had never been to that heaven known as Nazarick and he was excited for her truly, he looked over and gave her a slight wink with a reassuring squeeze of her hand.

After a few moments, the door opened again and the guests of the hour arrived, the Slane Theocracy, each Cardinal in all their perceived glory, Jircniv had a sly smile as he thought of what would happen. The Cardinals were in their respective colours and escorted it seems by some unknown individuals, all for them had masks to hide their identities but they all seemed rather powerful, contrary to how everyone else was somewhat relaxed, the individuals each had weapons with them. Some held staves and swords, but two in particular stuck out to Jircniv, while he couldn't see their faces or identify their gender they seemed to be either a boy and a girl or two girls, one holding a long black spear, tied at each end with cloth hanging slightly. The other, who was now leaning against the wall, directly behind where the Cardinals chose to sit, had at her side a wicked scythe, it seemed to ooze a bloodthirsty power, something which beckoned the reaping of lives. Jircniv took a look at his knights to gauge their reactions, seeing only apprehension, anxiety, and what was obviously fear, these individuals were clearly very strong, while Jircniv was no warrior, he understood and trusted the instincts of his subordinates.

There were some slight introductions and while everyone was happily enjoying the wonderful drinks of the kingdom, the Cardinals, as if to show their displeasure, initially refused to partake. It wasn't until Raymond, whom Jircniv knew to be more sensible than the rest, decided to ask for a glass and was overwhelmingly shocked at the taste that some of the others decided to follow his lead and try, Jircniv could guess which of them ad come to be more relaxed in the city by the clear division of their party, with all except the Cardinals of Wind, Light, and Darkness partaking, the latter each seemingly frustrated at their peers for partaking.

* * *

It was sometime before anything else truly happened, the group mainly spoke in broken conversations, speaking on their respective countries and how they viewed the Sorcerous Kingdom, to his surprise, the Worm Dragonlord seemed very interested in the Sorcerer King, speaking with the leader of Blue Rose on the matter, asking about his personality and how it was to interact with him. It took Jircniv by surprise as she seemed to have some insight on the matter, he did not know she had ever met his Majesty yet she spoke of his wisdom and his helping her understand a complex term known as '_Noblesse Oblige'. _Jircniv had, of course, heard of the reputation surrounding the famous all-female adventure group, they were tolerant of demihumans to a degree and had even saved a village from the Sunlight Scripture years ago, but he was very impressed by her impression of the King considering he knew she was a priestess of the water god.

"Forgive me, but you seem to take well to the Sorcerer King, it surprising considering your faith, why is that?" the Worm Dragonlord finally asked, something which Jircniv paid close attention to, in reality, he could tell there were a few individuals who seemed to concentrate their attention at this question, the Cardinals Bereince, Ginedine, Raymond, as well as the Dragon Queen. he assumed the lot of them had some nerves about meeting an undead and her words would give them some manner of guidance on how to deal with him.

Each member of Blue Rose seemed to take some time to think on the matter, before one of them, the masked magic caster, Evileye, he believed her name was, spoke.

"I can't speak for everyone here but it's difficult for me to put into words what he's really like, granted we only met him once but my expectation of him was shattered within a few moments, and I can't even begin to contemplate him now honestly, he seems beyond comprehension in some ways, but I can say I never felt any hate from him, no anger, no malice for the living, or anything else really, he was calm, confident, almost otherworldly,...'

As she spoke the others nodded slightly, their leader continued,

"I agree, I was at first very apprehensive, but in truth, by the time we actually met his Majesty I had a lot of questions that I couldn't really answer, a lot of issues that I had seen which conflicted with who I thought I was and how I believed the world to be. I believe more than anything the thing that his Majesty showed me is how limited I was because of my faith, it wasn't that he made me not believe in the gods, or challenged my faith in them, in reality, he never once spoke on the subject, but he did question why I believed certain things, why I made some assumptions, and how those issues were placing me in a position where I was actually the very centre of my own problem, I couldn't accept the world around me because I didn't want to, I wasn't fully opening my eyes and letting my past cloud how I saw the future. I mean here we are, in a city filled with demi-humans and humans, administered and protected by the undead, and it's more peaceful than anywhere else I've been in this entire continent, there is more prosperity and happiness here, because everyone can bring their strengths together and live without fear, everyone can be themselves."

There was not a single interruption as she spoke these words, everyone seemed intent to listen and try to grasp at their meaning, even Jircniv who had come to E-Rantel often was taking the moment to truly realize what a paradigm shift had occurred here, how he had changed even in the few short years since his introduction to his Majesty, and how much better his life had become because of it.

"It seems you all have been charmed, that's the only explanation for why you would be so open to this undead" said the Cardinal of Wind, the comment was received as well he would have expected with only a few, the Blue Sky Dragonlord namely, laughing while the Elf King seemed amused for the first time since he had arrived, the rest of the group was either visibly annoyed, angry or worrisome to the hell which that simple comment could unleash.

He could tell the maids were similarly angry, with malice in their movements that surprised Jircniv.

"There is no magic on us, it just seems you're too ignorant to anything you can't understand" spoke Evileye, her teammates laughing softly at the anger visible of their faces

'She is right, there is no magic impressed on them"

This time it was the Platinum Dragonlord who spoke, seemingly siding with the Roses, there seemed to be slight tensions building as the girl with the massive Scythe seemed to glare at the Dragonlords and the Elf King, the latter of which he could tell was hate even through a mask, hoping for some reprieve he tried to imagine how to calm the situation, he was disappointed as an angry shout from the Cardinal of Wind added to the tension.

"Do not defend this cursed undead, look how he keeps us here, waiting as if we are some sheep, I say, perhaps we could use this to our own advantage, here we all are, under his nose, should we all band surely we can kill this single undead'

The comment was not received well at all, Raymond visibly enraged by the notion, the maids seemed bloodthirsty, and even Renner was angry as her visible frown turned to clear malice towards the Cardinal of Wind.

"If you wish to bring about your own destruction so be it, but don't presume to include my kingdom or my people in your suicide."

There was a very non-childlike hatred present in Queen Draudillon's words, which surprised anyone who Jircniv presumed did not know of her 'condition'

"We have aided you more times than we should of, if not for us your nation would have already become nothing more than a stock pen for the Beastmen" retorted Dominic

"Do not presume to throw your kindness towards me, Cardinal, if you had truly cared to help my nation you would have committed actual forces long ago, your 'help' was nothing more than political pandering, propaganda to parade before your citizens and to advance your faith."

The Cardinals were shaken, clearly, they could not sit idle and let this stand, Yvon narrowed his eyes looking at the Dragon Queen

"Are you siding with the undead, your highness?"

"I'm siding with what bring my people the best chance at survival and peace, this 'undead' you speak of sent two elves, children no less, and they casually massacred legions of the Beastmen in mere moments, one of them stated she wasn't even going to fight, tell me, what do you have to compete against that?"

At the mention of the dark elves, two notable changes came about the room, the usually uninterested Elf King shot up straight and peered at the Dragon Queen, something of a bestial lust in his eyes, Jircniv couldn't quite understand it, but it sent shivers down his spine. The second was that of the masked girl by the Cardinals, she seemed to also be very interested at the mention of the dark elves.

"You must be joking, to kill thousands of Beastmen would require insurmountable strength, and you say just one elf child did this, lies!" replied the Cardinal of Wind.

Sensing the opportunity, Jircniv threw out his own experience, both to draw the Dragon Queen closer to his Majesty's side and to help grow the fear the Cardinals clearly had, he decided to make sure they understood even a fraction of what was to come.

"Its true, and those children comprise but a small fraction of force which serves the Sorcerer King, his Majesty's subjects are a power the likes of which this world cannot comprehend, when I had foolishly sent invaders to his home, his Majesty had sent those elves to bring me to an audience, they killed almost all the knights within my court in mere seconds, and from what I can understand they are just two of his personal advisors, if you came here thinking that the death knights and soul eaters outside were in any way the bulk of his Majesty's forces then you are absolutely screwed. I've seen him make death knights with ease, out of mere convince, and the true strength of his military would make even you dragonlords seem tame. It may sound horrifying but i;ve sound solace in something" waiting to ensure he had everyone's undivided attention, he continued: "If he had so wished, he could of easy wiped all of our nations from the face of this world, the fact we're here means that he clearly wants peace, but do not assume to be able to combat the power which lies in his home, The Great Undergr-"

Just than the doors opened and a pair of gorgeous maids entered the room, all heads turned to face them, some filled with intrigue and anticipation, other filed with shock and fear at what they were hearing.

Jircniv remembered them as the maids who welcomed him on his first visit,

"Welcome honoured guests, my lord asks you to forgive the long wait and thanks you for your patience.."

Noticing how some of the Cardinals now had absolute terror, Jircniv could not help but be giddy inside,

'_Oh this will be…. Fantastic hahaha'_

As he thought this, to the left of the maids on one of the walls, a seemingly out of place phenomena occurred, one that was new to Jircniv, out of nowhere as if breaking and tearing at space itself, a black semicircle appeared, behind him Nimble trembled a little at the memory of such a thing.

"I am Yuri Alpha, and this is Lupusregina Beta, Lord Ainz will see you now," she said bowing politely and motioning to the hole in reality.


	9. Chapter 9

**An: I'm sure everyone could tell but I don't really consider the NW characters to be super strong, I estimate Zesshi and PDL, max around lvl 75, so you'll see going forward they won't really be seen as much of a threat, that's just my personal opinion, to be sure we'll have to wait until maruyama-sama releases the information. I want to thank everyone for the massive amounts of support for the story, I hope to do a Q&A within a few chapters so if you have any questions you've been wishing to ask, please do. Thank you again for all the reviews and please keep them coming, I've already gotten some pretty great ideas about things that are coming up.**

**Chapter 9**

The maids had come seeming out of nowhere but the truly awe dropping sight was the form of black mass which seemingly occupied the very space next to them. Ginedine had lived a long life, and knowledge was his addiction, he thirsted for it, craved it in all its forms. He had learned of war and peace, of theology and heresy, so long and wise was he that he no longer seemed even human, not to his peers and not to himself. It was this long history of being that had so greatly affected him, ever since he had arrived in the Sorcerous Kingdom he had been met with turn after turn, surprise after unending surprise, he had lost count of all the new ideas he encountered, all the different scenes which flew past him, this world he had entered seemed to never calm taunting him with all he did not yet know, his heart which had at one point believed to know most if not all, was like a newborn again, learning to see the world in all it was, and all it could be.

As he stared at the scene, questioning if what he was seeing was real, the maid spoke,

"Lord Ainz again apologises for his delay, he was busy preparing ensuring a safe means for allowing us to transport you all"

Some voice, speaking for them all asked: "transport us where?"

"To his home, of course, the summit will be had in The Great Tomb of Nazarick, the abode of forty-one Supreme Beings and home of Lord Ainz Ooal Gown"

There was absolute surety and reverence in her voice, no room for doubt in her conviction of the divinity of these "supreme beings" and while Ginedine would argue that only the six could be considered supreme, he would be lying if he did not doubt the inclusion of the Sorcerer King to this list.

All within the room waited for the first one among them to find the courage to move, it wasn't long before Jircniv and his retinue stood ready to enter the unknown portal, the representatives of the Re-Estize kingdom quickly followed. As more and more of the gathering stood and made their way into the portal, the Cardinals looked at each other, steeling themselves for what was to come. Ginedine noticed Raymond had a slight sweat building on him, his youth evident, and as they then stood together, they proceeded to enter into the unknown, and face whatever may come.

* * *

Draudillon, in her earnest haste, had closed her eyes when she passed through the portal, she did not feel pain or anything really, as if walking through a light mist, she had kept them closed because even though she had started to trust in the Sorcerer King, fear was a powerful thing, she had kept them shut because even though she knew better, she could not marshal the strength to face this all at the moment, too many questions were left unanswered, too many things left unknown.

She walked forwards until she bumped into something, the slight interruption providing her enough courage to open her eyes, and taking the time to let her eyes adjust to the light she quickly learned why her minister was frozen solid in front of her.

They were standing in a large corridor, extending so far she could not even see the end, the height seemed to be around 20 meters and there was abundant light within the room coming from,... Somewhere, though it made to illuminate every corner. Beneath them was a polished black stone, interwoven with lines which shined as if gold itself had loaned them its lustre, it was beautiful, nothing short of that word would explain it. She caught herself and looked to see her surrounding, the corridor was relatively wide, more than enough to fit the entire group that had now finally come through, they stood in the middle of this wide corridor, flanked on each side by statues of terrifying demons, they were so lifelike Draudillon feared they would move and strike them all dead at the very moment.

While her fear of the demon statues was still registering she looked on to realize that there were more, many more of these demons, as if carefully structured to resemble some cruel display of demonology, they were embedded in grand looking niches, decorated with a contrasting white, gold, silver and black. The sight making the predominantly dark coloured demons even more eye-catching. Surrounding each of these niches were beautifully carved etchings, depicting many sorts of scenes, maidens collecting water, recreations of the sky and lightning striking the ground, they were all so detailed in their making that they too seemed almost lifelike as if they would move and show their history at any moment.

She was absolutely mesmerized, so lost in the sight in front of her that she started to wonder, wishing to catch a closer glimpse at the exquisite works of art, and while she was so lost in her own little world she could not register the awed sounds of those around her, looking onwards still she heard a strict commanding voice bring her back to the present.

"If you will all follow me, we will proceed to the throne room, Lord Ainz is waiting for you" the armoured maid spoke, Draudillon quickly collected herself before getting in step with the advancing group, seeing that the progress was rather slow as people gawked and awed at the advancing array of demon statues and the etching which decorated the walls of this grand corridor.

Basir had lived a relatively simple life, she had been born to a low ranking noble family but because of her intellect she had quickly gained the notoriety and respect of her peers, she knew she was not beautiful, she knew she would not advance in life by pretending to be a lady of court, and so she applied herself to study, to learning and sharpening her intellect. It was this dedication to self-improvement that had led her to become a member of the emperor's harem, at first it was a simple desire, she had indeed found him ravishing, his blonde hair and beautiful eyes, his very body the ideal image of wealth, privilege, and power, but his mind was what she truly fell in love with. How they debated on philosophy and ideas, on markets and economy, and the rule of law, she found herself completely at his mercy in body, mind and spirit. When she had learned of his devastated state at the hands of the Sorcerer King, it had broken her world, but little by little as if blessed by the event she found herself closer to her now husband eventually he proposed marriage, seeming carefree and happy wishing her to be his queen.

* * *

Basir had always known that whatever was able to conquer the spirit of her husband was indeed divine in nature, and upon her first meeting with the Sorcerer King, she was both terrified and amazed, his intellect was indeed unfathomable, and his relatability genuine, but as she walked along this corridor, staring at the marvellous artwork and these grotesque yet absolutely eye-catching statues, she could not help but wonder if he indeed was a god come down to this world.

"They scared me too when I first saw them" she heard her husband say,

He was looking stilled clearly awed but with the practised eye of someone who had seen this before,

"This is so much, way too much," she said to him, looking around as the maids led them deeper towards the end, a small contrast could be seen, while she could not make out any details she could tell there was a set of black and white doors at the end.

"Wait until you see the throne room," he said to her,

She found her self doubting what could be more beautiful than this scene, in this place even the very ground she walked on seemed to shine and glow with a holy light, she was hard-pressed to think of what might wait for her beyond, and as she thought on the possibilities she found herself staring with her mouth open towards the ever-growing sight of the massive double doors.

She found herself recollecting a scene when Jircniv had been commissioning artists from all over the empire to design the doors to their bedroom, he had desired something that he could not explain, and while the artists had drawn some absolutely fantastic renditions he denied each one, constantly saying they were not good enough, or they don't compare, she had always wondered what standard he was using to deny such works and as she found herself awe stuck at the sight of the incredible 20 meter high doors that stood before her, she finally realized why nothing they made would ever compare to this.

* * *

Lakyus had felt a rush as she passed through the [gate] into this strange hall, she was of course blown away, all her sisters were, not so much as a word was said as they marvelled during the entire stretch of the walk, but now they stood before something which had placed even all of that to shame, devoid of any capability to truly understand what was clearly in front of them she questioned herself, unknowingly loud enough for her sisters to hear.

"By the gods"

"Yeah,... I know, I'm starting to believe too" said Keeno,

They were both staring mouths open, though Keeno had her mask, at the set before them, one door seemed drawn from the idea of darkness itself, placed on it was the very depiction of cruelty and hatred, a vile demon which seemed to want to leap out and eat their very souls, devouring them whole and leaving nothing but ruin in its wake, its hand was outstretched as if warding any who may dare attempt to enter what lay beyond.

On the other side, was what could only be described as all beauty given form, the door was created from the very white of the stars, giving birth to a glowing angel, so real was her depiction that Lakyus could see the soft breeze gently moving her garments. She held out her hand as if inviting all to her mercy, her love, her warm and radiant smile calling towards the very dawn of a new day and her wings stretched as if she ready to take flight, to leave behind all mortal thoughts and ascend to the realm of gods, a realm which lay just behind these doors.

As everyone was silent taking in the sight before them, contemplating at what could have possibly created such a wonder, the doors began to swing open.

* * *

Tsaindorcus Vaision had experienced much in his ages of life, he had witnessed the rise and fall of the Kings of Avarice, stood by as they butchered his race, rending apart the pride of dragons, and leaving their bodies to drown upon oceans of blood. He had seemed those evil creatures fall and had then their home as his own in order to protect what horrific weapons lay within that floating castle, and though it was true he had bound himself to be the protector of those absurdly destructive weapons, he had also done so for his own greed.

The realm of the Kings of Avarice was littered with treasure, so much that even his draconic lust for it was overwhelmed, and so he kept the horde for himself, his power so secured against any foe that may wish to try and take the castle away from him, and the weapons he possessed form this place were unimaginable, his prized armour, which allowed him to move freely within the world was a relic he had discovered within the confines of that castle.

And now here he was again, standing before overwhelming wealth and it far surpassed the abode of the Kings, the statues he had seen were impressive, though he had seen his fair share of golems to know their worth, when they had arrived before the massive doors, he was wonder stuck at the detail, intricacy and masterful artistry which was placed into creating those bastions, he found himself wanting the, wishing to hold this realm, but when those doors opened, slowly so, allowing them to peer into the vail beyond, what he noticed first, almost to his detriment was the absurdity of wealth which was within this room.

It was a throne room it's the very definition of the word, nay he would go far as to say it might prove the Sorcerer King is divine, to be able to create such a wonder, as he surveyed his surroundings, he saw that the entire room was incredibly wide, and incredibly tall black and gold traced columns extended what seemed like one hundred meters to the ceiling, contrasting against the white walls which held the tone of purity and grace along the whole length of the room, the floor was a reflective stone, so well polished that it seemed like a clear flat mirror, a pond which seemed to make the room go on infinitely in all directions. Towards the ceiling of the room was an array of massive flags, they each possessed sigils he had never seen, but each of them was ornate, beautiful or fiendish.

Hanging down were massive chandeliers, each one emitting such radiance that it seemed as if the very notion of colour and light itself came from them, they bathed the throne room ina mystical, divine aura as if clothing the entire area from any form of darkness. Looking down as he tried to collect him, he was they were standing on a long 15 meter wide deep crimson rug stretched from the entrance of the room towards... It was then he felt it, danger, grave, absolute, guaranteed danger, and his eyes shot towards the end of the carpet and fell upon the silhouettes standing upon a set of stairs.

* * *

Slyvin had been more nervous about traversing through the portal than anything he could think of in recent memory, he prayed to the gods, and promised should he return alive, he would take a wife and father a child immediately, as thanks for their protections. He was a wild mix of awe, nervousness, and terror as they walked through the doors, he had been absolutely blown away by the beauty of those doors, and when they entered the throne room he was almost hypnotized by the marvel which was evident here.

'_This,... This is a divine place'_

He began to think before every instinct he had, every fear which had kept him awake, all the training he had endured wretched him back to reality and his eyes darted to find the source, and as he confirmed, he wished they have never come to this world, this land which was not for the likes of humankind.

Towards the end of the throne room, upon a grand staircase was an array of individuals, each split evenly to have a symmetry he was surprised he found very aesthetic considering the ocean of fear he was currently drowning in, the first to catch his eye was an insect creature, it was blue and quite tall, its body seemingly covered in a light mist which he guessed was frost its four arms hung in a straight and composed manner, seeming calm and collected, as a warrior should be.

'_As a warrior should be!_

He snapped to himself to try and bring some confidence back into his spirit, but as he moved on his despair only deepened, next to the insect was a well dressed frog creature, it looked slim and proper, it's only debilitating feature being its head, but even from this silly looking thing, he felt he would not be able to so much as scratch it, regardless of how much he struggled.

After the frog was the butler, a welcomed sight as he breathed a slight sigh of relief at some familiarity, he still looked stoic and composed, his figure of pristine confidence, servile, tidy and strong. As he recalled the polite manners of the butler he moved to see what other monsters would comprise the line up and what sight struck him next chilled his soul, across from the butler, dressed in a black and red gown was a petite girl, she had unnaturally large breasts for what her age should be and her figure spoke of high class, but it was her eyes, her eyes which seemed to bore a hole through his soul, the eyes of a vampire. Her eyes were blood red, as if carnage and murder were what fueled her, and she peered straight at him, as if seeing through his mask, he felt sweat run down all over him, as he tried to reason away from the possibility that this was the same vampire they had encountered, the monster which would have devastated his entire team.

Next to the vampire were two dark elves, these he could guess were the ones that were spoken about during the meetings, they did indeed seem average, their manner of dress was very nice and both of them seemed to be healthy growing girls, one was holding onto a staff with both hands, seemingly nervous, while the other exuded confidence, ready for any challenge. As he took in their features he stopped dead, staring, again a familiar sight, both of those darks elves, had heterochromatic eyes, just like Zesshi, before he could complete his scan of the creature on the stairs, he turned to find the Elf King, he eyes bearing straight at the elves, an almost evil sly smile bore on his face, Slyvin turned once more to look at Zesshi, and he found her twitching, her hand wrapped tightly around her scythe, trembling.

'_... She's scared, no… she's terrified'_

* * *

Zesshi had been lost in her anger for quite a while, she was a moment away from forgetting about her orders and rushing to combat her bastard of a father. When everyone had begun to move into the portal she had kept her eyes fixed on the vile specimen, and while she could tell he was strong she was sure she could kill this fiend, and the thought of crushing his head between her hands, of hearing him beg her for mercy and receiving none made her lust for battle grow, she was excited, so excited that she just walked forwards with everyone else almost forgetting what was going on.

While everyone else was busy trying to keep their eyes inside their heads, looking around at whatever this room, she was too distracted by the thought of the revenge she so rightly deserved, this bastard needed to die, and nothing would stop her. Her anger seemed to make her weapon [Bane of Uranus] hungry for blood, it wished to be swung, to sink into flesh and rend limb from limb, and she wanted to, she was slowly making a list, her bastard father, and the armour, that blasted dragonlord she heard was so powerful, well here they all were, just waiting for her to end their miserable existences.

She was so consumed with this fantasy of death and destruction that she did no register standing before the doors and beginning to enter, but as soon as she began walking forwards, something seemed to change in the air, something seemed to be missing. As she tried to find that facet of reality which no longer seemed to exist she quickly looked around and tried to see her surroundings and for the first time in over two hundred years, she was awestruck, the throne room was beyond what she believed could exist in any world, divine or otherwise, but there was still something missing.

She surveyed forwards letting her eyes widen at the first creature upon the staircase towards the end, she was excited again,

'_What sort of insect is that?, it's strong, really really strong_'

a jovial thought came to her, the idea of battle, and defeat as she began to feel the power emanating from the insect upon the staircase, but she quickly began to feel her smile lessen,

'_They're all strong, they're all way too strong'_

Each creature she saw was beyond her, their smug smiles confirming that she was less than them, a weird looking Frogman, a very odd girl in the dress, the two little elf girls, they all seemed too powerful, much too powerful, and she did not like it at all, she was afraid of them, why should she be so afraid, but wasn't this good, wouldn't they be a challenge, a de…

The thoughts were cut abruptly as her eyes widen at what she saw next, a woman standing above the line of impossible creatures, she was absolutely beautiful, absolutely divine, her mouth seemed to drop from simply taking in her features. The lustre of her black wings, the soft white of her dress, and the etchings of gold which ran through it, she was heaven sent, a goddess in the flesh, and Zesshi felt her self beyond mesmerized by this woman, this creature she could not fathom, and when she saw her face, the angles of it, the warm inviting smile on it, the way her eyes shone like divine gold, and even her hair, decorated with horns to either side, it was simply breathtaking, by the gods she was beautiful.

The sight of this woman caught her unguarded, unprepared for what came next, she could not keep her eyes glued to this pinnacle of perfection forever and when she dumbfoundedly looked to its right, she froze.

It was finally then that she found her answer, she learned what manner of thing was gone from her surrounds as she caught sight of what sat in the throne when she entered the room, it was sound, noise, everything was quiet, everything was still, and this was its centre.

Zesshi had always been strong, she had always held within herself the confidence of the strong, she could tell when something was weak and when something would be fun to play with, when the demon gods had arrived two hundred years ago and began destroying the world she cursed she could no fight them, but she believed in her power, she knew they would fall to her scythe and beg for death, everything did, everyone always did.

Zesshi knew she was strong, she cursed that she could never fight at her heart's content, but when she arrived and felt the presence of these creatures she felt overwhelmed, she felt pressured, and she felt small, she felt they were stronger, they could kill her, that she could reason, that fact she could understand, she could come to terms with that idea, she knew it was something that she could accept, but this, what she felt now, what she saw now, she could never accept, she could never wrap her mind on this.

Sitting upon a throne of pure crystal, reaching high into this massive mausoleum of a throne room was what she could describe only as the embodiment of oblivion. It wore a pitch black robe lined with gold at the ends, curving towards the pristine white skull and open to expose a glow red orb nestled between its powerful looking ribs, upon its hands, were nine rings, each magnificent in their crafts and feel, magic pouring from them, and within its right hand was an ergonomic staff of entangled serpents, leading into seven heads with seven colour orbs within each mouth.

This was the Sorcerer King, the being who slaughtered hundreds of thousands on the Katze Plains, this was the Sorcerer King, who killed the impressively powerful Demon Emperor Jaldabaoth. This was the Sorcerer King, who struck fear into the hearts of those little Cardinals and the entire council. Yet being in front of it, him, now, she felt absolutely nothing, not a drop of power, not an ounce of strength, and it absolutely terrified her.

Zesshi felt cold looking upon him as if she was gazing deep into nothing, into the void, she felt oblivion pull at her very presence, as if her very existence was subject to disappear, to be reduced to nothing, forgotten as if she never existed.

She was absolutely terrified, not from the idea of being defeated, not from the possible thought of victory, or the sort from the gaze of a predatory beast waiting to harm her. No, she did not feel afraid because she feared she would be weak in front of the Sorcerer King. She was afraid because she knew she was nothing to the Sorcerer King, a simple decoration among the world, to be plucked and tossed away like litter, and as her mind registered what was going on, her body reacted, trembling with a primordial fear, something rooted so deep within all living beings that she could never escape.

Zesshi Zetsumei, the proclaimed strongest of the God-kin, herald of death and protector of humanity, for the first time in her life, did not want to fight.

* * *

Raymond for his part was trying his best to remember whom he would be meeting, after entering into this so-called tomb he could hardly believe his eyes, over and over and over and over again, the doors which had opened and allowed them entry into this magnificent cacophony of light, colour, beauty, and sheer divine majesty must have been the very doors to heaven. Yes Raymond was doing his best to remember he was not dead, and this was not the hall of his six gods, but damn was it hard.

As they were led deeper into the throne room, everyone present was again surveying each inch of this grand palace, taking in every corner, every facet so as to retain for themselves even a portion of this magnificence, even if just in their minds.

It was then that Raymond notices how Zesshi was moving, he had known her a very long time, and had known of her personality traits and habits, he knew of her confidence and general apathy to most situations, he lethargy when it came to everything which did not involve fighting.

He saw her take in the room, watched as her hands gripped tightly the divine weapon given to her, he continued with intrigue as he saw her seemingly lose her grip, and for a moment seemed distracted, before finally he body began to shake, slightly at first, but as the time continued, he saw her completely relax around her scythe, seemingly discarding it to lean against her body, her hands dropping down almost lifelessly to her sides, his eyes widened as at first he believed she was affected by some form of magic or attack, it was only when he quickly rushed to look where her masked face was pointing that he began to understand, it was then he began to truly comprehend her state, she was not attacked, she was absolutely terrified.

Raymond heard audible swallows, and gasps from the group, but none of that mattered, every instinct in his body, all the training he went through, was screaming for him to run, to flee this place, and this being as quickly and as far as possible, to hide in the deepest depths of the world and wait for death to separate him from this life which hosted what laid before him.

Raymond could no longer reason to himself anymore, there was no longer any bit of him which doubted emperor Jircniv's words, he felt them to be true,

'_He's letting us all live'_

Sitting upon a beautifully ornate throne, made seemingly on a single crystal, was what he could only describe as fear and divinity, it was true he was terrified, but more so he was awestruck by his majesty, every bit of the Sorcerer King's form told of undeniable confidence, it was the sort of being who made worlds move with simple words, lifted entire peoples with a single speech or condemn even the stars with but a gesture, this was the absolute form of a ruler, a living God.

Raymond had always held strong in his faith and it was the part of him which could justify all the things he and his peers had done, all the decisions which had to have been made, for the betterment of humanity. Yet there had always also been something which questioned it all, he had seen demi-human mothers scream as they killed their children, people hurt as they exacted their gods justice, and part of him always questioned it all, ever since the advent of the Sorcerer King, he had been cautious to think of him as anything but an undead, an evil stain upon the world which sought to kill all for the simple sake of pleasure, but as he heard report after report, his questions piled on, his thoughts clouded, and he found his justification for hating became less and less, it turned from hate to dislike, from dislike to caution, and caution to intrigue. His arrival in the city, bustling and full of life, full of wealth and its citizens happy drove his intrigue further. The words from the member of Blue Rose, had admittedly moved him more than he cared to let on, he truly could not find justification for the actions he had seen, to hate the Sorcerer King, and now, here at the foot of this being he had heard so much about, a part of him felt keen to believe it was worthy of worship.

"Welcome, all of you honoured guests" his voice rang out as if filling the entire space between them, it was powerful, deep, filled with wisdom and surety in his position and his power, Raymond could feel it reverberate throughout his body.

"I am the King of the Sorcours King, and Master of the Great Tomb of Nazarick, Ainz Ooal Gown!"

Raymond was dumbfounded, he could do little but stand and stare, his whole body rejecting to heed any of his commands, he noticed that Prime Minister Renner and Emperor Jircniv, as well as their respective entourages, had fallen to a knee, bowing deeply as a sign of respect to this god given form.

"It is a pleasure to finally meet you ,your Majesty, I am Queen Draudillon Oriculus, Queen of the Dragon Kingdom" spoke the dragon queen, a feeling of complete respect evident in her words, Raymond was surprised she did not fall to her knees as well, he was surprised they all didn't.

"We are happy to finally meet you Sorcerer King Ainz Ooal Gown, we are the High Council of the Argland Council State, I am Allelida Tarne, I am also known as the Worm Dragonlord"

"A pleasure indeed, I am Allotrope Yionvis, I am also referred to as the Diamond Dragonlord."

"And I am his twin Igneous Yionvis, the Obsidian Dragonlord"

Finally, as well as their respective entourages, to be a slight pause before the Platinum Dragon Lord spoke, seemingly trying to compose himself,

"I am the Platinum Dragonlord, Tsaindorcus Vaision" he spoke in a respectful but cautious tone, clearly keeping his guard.

He looked to the Blue Sky Dragonlord, the clear fear in his eyes very contrast to his arrogant attitude from earlier, he then spoke in a quiet manner.

"I am the Blue SKy Dragonlord, Suveria Myronsilk" he nodded his head once and kept it in a low position, trying to keep to himself and not attract any unwanted attention from the clearly superior Sorcerer King.

The Elf king gave a weirdly hesitant response, intruding himself while not completely looking at the Sorcerer King, taking glances at the two Elf children upon the stairs, Raymond felt sick thinking about his intentions, but was interested to know what would happen to the arrogant bastard should he try to stow away the elves, clearly their master would not be happy about anyone bringing harm to them, perhaps this meeting would finally doom the Elf Kingdom.

It was finally time for them to introduce themselves, the Sorcerer King looked to them the literal flames within his eyes surveying their existences, but strangely it was not a look of general superiority of even contempt, it almost seemed as if he knew they were almost nothing, the feeling weighing upon Raymond.

"I am the Pontifex Maximus of the Slane Theocracy…"

As the members began to name themselves, Raymond waited with anxious breath, he silently hard the anger evident in Dominic's voice as he introduced himself, but Raymond was too busy calming himself to deal with that fools desire to destroy himself,

'_He still doesn't get the situation does he'_

He cursed him in his mind as they continued.

… Ginedine Delan Gueifi... I am the Cardinal of Fire, Berenice Nagua Santini" she said with a bow

Finally, it was his turn, he swallowed his courage and looked at the king, and froze as he saw that the Sorcerer King was already meeting his gaze, he stood for a moment forcing his body to comply, wishing his voice to not waiver.

"I am the Cardinal of Earth, Raymond Zarg Lauransan, it's a pleasure to meet you, your Majesty"

"I am pleased that everyone decided to come, this summit will be like nothing this world has ever seen!" he said as he stood,

his staff floating next to him as if the very laws of the world mattered not, and while Raymond knew it was magic, he could not help but be awed by every movement he made

[Gate] he spoke, and again a black hole rendered reality apart, he motioned for everyone to follow him

"This way, the summit hall will be had on the ninth floor"

It was then Raymond thought quickly,

'_Floor? wait ninth?!'_

As he took time to think he remembered that there was no grand building near E-Rantel, nothing which could have easily held such a grand and obviously massive structure that they were all in, nothing they would not have seen, this dawning realization frightened him, where were they, could they have been transported to come far off place, …. Or perhaps some far off world?

'_Are we truly in the realm of a god?'_

He tried to steel himself and began to walk again towards the unknown.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

"Welcome to our conference room" said Ainz, he had used a gate to transport everyone to the ninth floor, while in normal circumstances teleportation was limited and from the outside into Nazarick was impossible, he found he could do so while he was on [The Throne of Kings] the world item allowed him to tweak the settings of Nazarick to his liking, without compromising too much. It was the particular reason why he had to meet visitors in the throne room, and he knew it gave an impressive impression of himself and his organization.

Ainz was worried, while it seemed like everyone was very well impressed, the gawking expressions on most people saw to that, he saw there were a few people giving him pretty weird looks, the first being that Elf King. he didn't know too much about their kingdom, he didn't have time to send anyone over to investigate thoroughly, but he gambled on bringing him to the summit and perhaps making friendly ties with him. Another individual who seemed odd was the Platinum Dragonlord, Ainz had heard of the Argland High Council and heard that one of them was extremely powerful and while he did seem strong it wasn't really by much, though he understood most of this world would no be considered very powerful by his standards. He was nonetheless interested in how he had acquired his armour, it was an item from Yggdrasil, one of the weapon sets from the Dragon Tamer class, something he knew a bit about from his days soloing for funds and gathering information. The class itself was not very strong but it was effective against dragons and other draconic races, he figured that with his levels he might even be able to force Sebas into his second form if they fought.

"Thank you, your Majesty, forgive us for being so distracted, this place is simply beyond imagination" spoke the little girl called Draudillon

She seemed extremely pleasant, though he had heard from Jircniv that she was much older than what she appeared, and apparently was a true dragonlord, capable of using wild magic. He was very interested in bringing her over to his side and hoped that being able to help with her country's affairs she would be willing to work with him.

"I am honoured by your words, indeed this place was once the centre of our organization, myself and my comrades built this place for honest communication, we would mandate that here all were equal" he said as he remembered the days when each seat was filled, when they would discuss their plans for raiding, or plan a mission, the memories seemed bittersweet with these new faces occupying the seats, though he was happy to be able to use the conference room again, even just a little.

"Indeed your Majesty, clearly the Great Tomb of Nazarick is a tomb in name only, but if I may be so forward, I wish to begin, firstly with why we are all here." said one of the Cardinals, an old looking man, he believed he was the Cardinal of Water.

'_At least he's being polite, the other guy seems just pissed, did I do something wrong already?'_

He noticed one of the Cardinals was extremely guarded, his body language telling him of his negative emotions, and he made note to remember him, should anything happen.

"Of course, let us indeed begin, as was stated this summit is held to ensure peaceful coexistence, I find it is better to come together and speak on our problems and to ensure no misunderstandings occur, often it is the simple things which lead to great tragedy."

"Indeed you are correct my lord," said Jircniv, bowing slightly,

"Excuse my informal demeanor but I must be blunt, I have been alive for a very long time, and I have seen creatures such as you before, beings of unimaginable power, tell me, Sorcerer King, are you a being of that world, a player from Yggdrasil?" the Platinum Dragonlord spoke, he stared straight at Ainz

Ainz thanked his undead body for not being able to sweat, he was extremely caught off guard by the question but it did confirm a few of his prior beliefs, and it made sense now, but he needed more information, and clearly, this dragonlord might have some.

"Interesting, when I learned you inhabited the castle of the so-called Eight Kings of Aversive I had my doubts but when you came in that armour, it proved my suspicions true"

"His Armour?" the Worm Dragonlord asked

"Yes, it's a Relic class item, before I confirm or deny my being, tell me what do you know of Yggdrasil?" he said looking back at the Platinum Dragonlord.

The dragonlord seemed pensive, thinking about what to say.

"I know every hundred years or so beings from that place cross into our world, I do not know of the quantity or reason, but after I took Eryuentiu I began researching their archives and learned that the Kings originated from this place known as Yggdrasil, some have come as boons, leaving technology and magic while others have been destroyers, evil in their intentions. I have my suspicions that many large events within the past were influenced by the emergence of one or more of the inhabitants of that other world."

"It is as you say, while I do not know everything concerning the Kings of Aversive or other such beings, I have deduced that they must be from Yggdrasil," said Ainz, taking the time to think on this new information. He would have to consult with Demiurge and Albedo once this was over, he now had enough reason to go visit this floating city in the desert.

"Than it seems you are also like them, so what do you wish with our world?"

One could choke on the air, everyone seemed interested in his answer and Ainz was getting nervous, he didn't want to say the wrong thing and make more enemies.

"When I first arrived in this world, I was content in keeping to myself, while I did try to explore the surrounds, to ensure nothing could harm me or my precious children," he said that as a means to make himself seem peaceful before he continued:

"When I had heard of the appearance of powerful beings such as Jaldabaoth, I understood that I may not be able to keep hidden for very long, and indeed I was correct, once my realm was found I reasoned the best way to be of some measure in this world, I saw that there was dysfunction in how the people treated each other, and I wished to create even in some small manner a utopia in this world."

Ainz wanted as much sympathy as possible, he had to make a good impression to reduce the number of potential enemies, better friends and allies, than people to conspire against him.

"So you come to help our world, and what is this utopia?" asked the Cardinal of Earth,

"In whatever way I can, in truth, I simply wish to build a place where my children can be at peace, a world where my nation can find prosperity, and utopia is a term originating from another world I have visited, it is the pursuit of a perfect place, the creation of a peaceful and mutually beneficial coexistence, where suffering and hatred are not factors."

"And you wish to create this utopia here?" asked the Cardinal of Earth, seeming very interested in the idea,

"I do, for it is within my power, I have seen too many worlds to not want such a thing, tell me what do you think would happen if the world was only run by humans?"

He wanted to gauge the reaction of some of the more extreme members in his audience,

"It would ensure our safety, we would be functional and prosperous finally." responded the old man

"That is indeed a possibility, but I will share with you another, this was a world I visited much too long ago, in it humans were the dominant race, ruling over the entire planet"

The humans in the room seemed chipper with the idea and the old man, beaming said: "and was it like you said, a utopia?"

"No, far from it, you see when there was no one else, humanities worst vices came to bear, in their greed they sought to outdo one another in both political and military means. Creating monstrosities of war and from the backs of their own people they built monoliths of earth and metal which produced smoke and fire, they drove technology forward at the expense of their own planet, leading to an eventuality where the very air was poison and many had to live in covered domes to avoid the death which walked just outside. This was worsened by how little regard was given to those who could not even earn their own living, the means of government was so corrupt that it no longer cared for the citizens, choosing instead to advance itself and its own interests."

As he said this the smiles began to fade and the picture he painted them took form,

"That can't be true, why would they do such a thing," asked one of the escorts behind the Cardinals

"I do not know of their motivations, but I know that it is easy to take advantage of someone when you hold a superior position, you forget their existence, reason away their individuality and turn them into an object, something which can be used and discarded, throughout my being I have found that differences do not make us weak, the unique components of a race or peoples can be used to cover the weaknesses of another, should we work together we can create something that is more powerful, more perfect than the sum of its parts. And I hope to create that here, if even for just my corner of this world."

Some stunned faces looked back on him and Ainz was almost sure he was getting closer to his goal.

"But you are undead, why do you care?"

Ainz laughed a little remembering the question from before, he looked at the leader of The Blue Roses and spoke

"Understand I do not laugh at you, it is a question I was asked prior, and now will answer, I find often people worry that I am to be a monster, some cruel form of evil"

There were some hesitant nods to this statement.

"I ask then, what makes evil, would you agree it is the actions of those with will and intent?"

The dragonlord seemed to think and nod to the reply,

"Than if that is the case, am I evil for what I have done?"

"Your actions on the Katze Plains.."

"Were justified" he responded quickly, cutting off the Pontifex Maximus,

"I had delivered to the King written demands, and ample time to deliver them, he responded by bringing force, and I utilized my power to crush that force, in a manner which would ensure no more would be needed. Yes, the loss of life was great, but if I had only done so much, more needless death would have followed more pointless wars, if you were capable of such, would any of you have done differently?"

He could tell they thought on that, he had at least gotten some who were on the fence, now he needed to reel them in.

"I seek peace, regardless of what I look like, in another world, there was a man, a human known as Martin Luther King, and to paraphrase a quote, he said; Do not judge solely based on one's appearance but rather on the content of one's character. This is the basis of my nation, regardless of creed, race, or species, I accept all whose character reflects the aspiration to be kind and good to their fellow being, something I believe my nation has succeeded in proving to be true."

Some of the dragonlords and other members nodded at his words,

"Do you plan to expand your nation then, to take us all into your fold?" asked the Dragon Queen, clearly probing for a different question.

"I intend to help all who wish it of me, and keep my borders and vassals safe, I hoped to show you all the benefit of cooperation, between Beastman, Demihuman and Humans, between living and dead, and how we can all live peacefully, that we can all coexist."

"We have already received a divine proclamation, that of the Six Great Gods" said the Cardinal of Wind lethargically

"I would not claim to know of their philosophy but in my eyes, raising one race above others is not the proper conduct of any gods"

At the mention of the Six Great Gods, the Cardinals of the Theocracy seemed to pin up, in fact, everyone had been listening with open ears to the exchange he figured they were considering his words, well at least most of them.

"Do not speak of our gods as if you know them, undead" said the Cardinal of WInd, there was a malic in his voice which surprised Ainz,

'_This guy seems a little unhinged'_

"Dominic!" said one the others, Berenice he believed her name was.

"I do not know of your supposed gods, but I can indeed infer they were players from Yggdrasil, for them to create a faith which idolizes only humanity would strike me as wrong, or short-sighted at the very least."

"Indeed I believe that to be so, and the six can safely be assumed to be players," said the Platinum Dragonlord,

"How dare you…" began one of the Cardinals

"The equipment your escorts carry, they are clearly of Yggdrasil, not particularly high-level weapons, but nonetheless identifiable, this all but confirms they were players"

The information seemed to stun some of them, the escorts look visibly shaken, and this spurred a retort from Dominic,

"How dare you continue this blasphemy" he looked as if he wanted to say more before again one of his peers refuted him,

"Dominic Enough!, Sorcerer King we deeply apologise"

"I apologise for nothing, this creature sits here and speaks as if he knows anything about the gods as if he too is comparable to them! This is heresy, blasphemy of the highest order, I will not allow the Six to be dirtied by a mere undead."

His word sparked unconceivable rage from Albedo, she had been sitting next to Ainz, silent until now, and he knew she was about to snap, her aura was beginning to leak and the room seemed to be getting darker, he felt her anger growing and while he could not blame her he knew he needed to cool the situation.

"Albedo, enough" his simple words seemed to have calmed her somewhat.

"But my lord, this.."

"It is alright if we are to live together, to coexist than we must face the differences which divide our people, perhaps it would benefit us all to question the validity of these gods," Ainz said with surprising calm in his voice, thanking his undead body for not letting his nervousness leak out.

* * *

Lakyus had been silent as the conversations went on, she had heard some extremely surprising things, and learning that there was somehow another world where these almighty beings originated from had knocked her almost to the floor, she couldn't quite understand it all.

What she could gather, however, was that the Cardinal of WInd, Dominic, might not survive this gathering considering his more than a blatant disregard for decorum, and his mouthing off to someone who was obviously much more powerful than he was. As she thought it over, she figured the Theocracy would not wager a war with the Sorcerer King should he demand justice for the insults already spoken against him, but she was surprised by his calm, he seemed to have all of this under control and his insistence for peace even when insulted by the other party, made her appreciate even more that such a being had saved her nation, her opinion of the theocracy was slowly diminishing.

"Do you claim to say the six were not gods?" asked one of the other cardinals, the old man.

"I would not claim to know of gods," spoke his Majesty

'What do you mean by those words?" asked the old man again

"I mean just that, what is divinity, what constitutes a god?" spoke the Sorcerer King,

a reply was not had immediately, clearly, the Cardinal Dominic was about to speak when the others shot him a look to shut him up, but as Lakyus smiled at the sight, she began to ponder that question,

'_What makes a god?'_

"It is not the aspect of being divine?" asked the Dragon Queen after some pause,

"Should it simply be that, then we must ask the nature of divinity, which in turn returns us to our original query, the constitution of a god," replied the Sorcerer King.

Lakyus found her courage to answer,

"Is it not their power, to influence and change?"

"Should we hold that as the standard than are you, Ms Aindra not a god? Would we all not be, for we all hold power to influence this world, as leaders, we can declare edicts that our citizens must follow, wage wars and make peace, does that mean we are gods then?"

"No,.." Emperor Jircniv replied

The Sorcerer King continued: "Should it be a simple question of power, then would you consider the Demon Emperor Jaldaboath a god?"

"No!" she said immediately

"But he was indeed powerful, he could enact his will upon those who he wished, should that be the measure of a god?"

No one could agree with this, it would not make sense

The old Cardinal spoke next,

"It is faith then, our people follow our gods because they gave us hope, their actions provided us with salvation when humanity was being oppressed"

"To that, I would say you are correct, you hark on what can constitute a god, it is not power, or the individual themselves, no component of a being will make it godlike. Divinity is a status given by others, by followers or believers, gods are not born, they are made in the minds and faith of those who believe. Understand I do not say this to challenge your faith, to diminish your gods, but to make you understand that they are only gods because you believe them to be so."

"BLASPHEMY!" hissed the Cardinal of WInd standing and making his point.

"The Six blessed humanity with power, the gave us a place among the world and their power is truly divine, you are nothing in comparison to them" he was breathing rather hard, hatred burning in his eyes

Silence hung in the air as people were afraid of what may come, the Sorcerer King spoke again,

"To my understanding, your gods were most likely weak in comparison to me, all information I have gathered, the quality of their equipment which you wear now and even still the deeds which I have heard in stories, none of it makes me believe they were indeed beyond me, furthermore, I will say this only once Cardinal, sit, your outbursts are beginning to test my patience."

Lakyus swallowed hard at the possibility of the Sorcerer King angry, what sort of devastation he would be capable of should he unleash his power, she dared not think of the possibility.

As if only wishing to make worse the situation, the Elf King finally spoke,

"This talk of gods bores me, there is only one measure which is important, and that is strength, to be strong is to take what you wish, Sorcerer King, if you wish to earn my respect than prove your strength, fight and be done with this idle chatter"

"than fight me," a voice rank out, everyone looked towards its source, it was one of the escorts brought by the Theocracy, the girl with the massive scythe, she made Lakyus's skin crawl, but in comparison to the rest of the room, she almost seemed tame.

* * *

Raymond had been given a lot to think about, first and foremost, was Dominic, his attitude and outbursts were quickly becoming a problem, and not just for himself, Raymond was worried what it might mean for the Theocracy.

Moreso was the revelation of the origins of the Six Great Gods, while Raymond wanted to doubt everything being said, they themselves had no knowledge on where the Six had come from, legend spoke of them simply appearing one day out of the blue, their power quickly earning them a following, and saving humanity from the clutches of extinction.

Now he was learning that there were more from this realm, this place called Yggdrasil, where even the Eight Kings, of Avarice, who killed the last of the Six, had come from. And if everything of what was said was true, would this mean that the Sorcerer King would also be a god?

The questions plagued him and he wished to drift into his own world to think on them,

"Than fight me" he heard behind him, turning around to see the masked Zesshi looking at the Elf King, a smile blooming on the latter,

'_Wait WHAT?!, I have to stop this NOW!'_

Before he could interject, the Elf King accepted her challenge, and he was momentarily downtrodden, before thinking of the opportunity, now they could kill the Elf King, in fair and even combat.

"We are not here to fight" began the Sorcerer King, but was quickly interrupted by the Blue Sky Dragon Lord.

"I agree with the Elf King, strength is all that matters, I have heard of you power Sorcerer King, and I challenge you,"

Everyone was shocked at the blatant challenge, Dominic made to approve of it, and Raymond watched as the Sorcerer King brought to his cheek a boney finger,

"There was once a tradition in days gone, nations would fight wars by allowing their best fighters to represent them, I will not fight you, but I will accept your challenge, as well as honour that of the earlier two."

"We will postpone our discussions and have a simple tournament of strength, if anything than for the betterment of our countries through sport, the rules are simple, we should avoid killing our opponents, but resurrection is available should any unfortunate accidents happen."

The words seemed almost too practised, Raymond, had a very bad feeling about this, but around the room, there was clear approval.

"Sebas, gather the guardians and meet us on the sixth floor," he said into the air, before standing and again casting the teleportation spell [gate]

"Now then everyone, …. won't you follow me," said the Sorcerer King as he walked into the spell

* * *

_One month ago - _

Near the centre of the continent was a collection of powerful nations, one of these was the Beastman Country, within the country sat a particular looking Beastman, he was a mix of bat and man, his leathery skin made him look very sickly and the way his sunken eyes glowed almost gave him the appearance of one of the undead. His people, the Batmen, shared similarities to vampires, in that they drank blood from living creatures, but Batmen were particular in that they could eat the entire body of those they drained, a horribly painful process in which they would stun their prey with a sonic attack, paralysing them, leaving them able to feel as they proceeded to slowly chew and drink the individual at the same time. This particular Batman was Lan Ve Runhar, The Eastern Tribe Beast King.

He had been notified a few weeks ago that the forces which had been moving to collect food from the Dragon Kingdom had been killed, at first he was thrilled believing a challenge might be at hand, but as he heard the details his excitement turned to anger, such a report was utterly idiotic, in his rage he killed the messenger and had ordered the gathering of all the respective tribe leaders from the Beastman nation.

"We have gathered, now what is it you want Lan" the one who spoke was a Tigerman, she was known as the Carnage of the South, she had a particular taste for devouring human children, enjoying their softer tender taste, and her skills in combat were exceptional, she could best in single combat nearly half of the gathered members, and they knew that.

Calm yourself Vishneri, there seems to be opportunity here, Lan would not waste our time with simple chatter," the responding member was Pov U'er Di, he was a Panda Beastman, and an extremely prolific Monk, his fists were said to be able to shatter mountains, and the towering physique he had proved the rumours were at least partly true.

Normal panda Beastmen were soft bodies by nature and they did not enjoy eating meat, choosing instead to live on a plant-based diet, but they loved to fight, their battle mania was extreme, sometimes slaughtering friend along with foe. This had earned the nickname the psycho for his altering personalities, from when he was in combat to when his mania had calmed and he was in a collected state.

"Indeed, we received word that our advancing forces on the Dragon Kingdom had been wiped out, supposedly over four thousand were killed by some elf on a dragon, they tell he it did it with one magical spell, splitting the earth and killing them all." he left those words there to gauge the reactions of the group, most members were surprised, some had glints of excitement, presumably guessing what he wanted to say next.

"I find the reports a little hard to believe but regardless, the elf left a warning, saying to not attack the Dragon Kingdom under the name of something called the Sorcerer King"

"I believe I heard of some new nation being created near the middle of the human lands, apparently something tragic happened and this Sorcerer King was the centre of it." Bayhal Infrani was a flame dragonoid who had left his home in search of adventure, which he found within the Beastman Country. His power was vast and very quickly had secured himself a spot as one of the tribal council members, a position he enjoyed quite a bit. Being of the fire dragon line, Bayhal was very prideful, he sought out powerful opponents to quell his bloodlust and kept himself privy to any developing news for most of the surrounding countries, looking for a new challenge and earning him something of an intelligence-gathering position among them. While he normally paid attention to their surrounding neighbours, the trolls, minotaurs and the one human nations worth a damn, he would now and then hear news of the other human nations,

"I do not care for what it is, I care that it thinks it can dictate how we go about getting our food, this Sorcerer King needs to learn the hard way of what it means to disrespect the Beastmen, I am ordering a full mobilization, I want everyone ready to attack the Dragon Kingdom within the next window, we will make them all suffer,"

"What of the food pen plan?" asked another member

"We will simply occupy their lands and begin taking from one of the other human nations around the area, we should be able to secure more food this way anyhow," Lan responded

They had been careful to only attack during certain periods of the year, partially because they knew not all the Beastmen could operate well during some of the months but also they wished to give their food supplies enough time to replenish, the humans would birth their young and let them grow before the next wave would come, they would, of course, put up resistance but their species was weak, and the sport made for easy pickings.

"I will rally my people, though we should be able to come with about one hundred thousand or so," spoke Vishneri, she was seemingly excited for the prospect of war, happy at the chance.

"You certainly don't disappoint Lan, haha, we will also gather, expect around the same for us, it is ripe time for some of our cubs to wet their hands" spoke the Pandaman with a sinister smile,

Once the rest confirmed their involvement, quickly leading the tally to well over four hundred and fifty thousand in total, a force so large they could well destroy most of the human nations at once, without the use of their prized golems.

"Be quick, we attack in one month's time!" with that the respective members left, and Lan let a smile come to his face as he imagined the horrible carnage which would follow.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

Zesshi was thrilled to pass through the portal this time and the sight waiting for her seemed almost natural, she was now just starting to really enjoy being here, when the real action would begin, when they had been discussing the origins of the gods she had found it very complex and boring, what did it all matter? The idea of other worlds and being of great power just seemingly popping up out of nowhere was not her field of expertise, but a comforting thought she had was that in some small way, her lineage as a god-kin meant that she and the Sorcerer King now shared something, and for whatever reason it made her feel ever so slightly less afraid of him.

The arena she had been transported to was massive, and the first thing which caught her eye was that the night sky was visible.

'_We're outside?'_

"Welcome everyone to the sixth floor of The Great Tomb of Nazarick" a cheery and loud voice boomed out, she turned her head to find its source, there was one of the small Elf children she had seen earlier, one of those beings who surpassed her.

As she took the time to look over his features, she saw that she was quite attractive, his small and angular face gave rise to the image of a very handsome man later on in life, as Zesshi connected its strength with the overwhelmingly attractive features, her need to bear strong children rose, and she reasoned to herself that if she got the chance to fight this elf she would immediately.

'_If he can defeat me, I would be more than happy to be the mother of his children'_

The thought pleased her and she found new vigour to face down the vermin she had to now.

"Very well, we will spectate from the viewing pavilion" [Mass Fly] the Sorcerer King apparently could cast magic over everyone there, and as they all lifted up into the air, only herself and the Elf King remained.

"The rules are simple, you may fight to your heart's content, killing is not the aim, but we will resurrect you if you do fall."

The Sorcerer King's booming voice could be heard by all, and as the group went further towards a massive viewing area, she stood and took the time to take in the arena.

The place was absolutely massive, its entirety stretching out like a small city, the fighting pit was a standard circular sandy pit, which extended as far as the eye could see on every side, the spectator's stands looked extremely well built, they could easily hold hundreds of thousands of people. And as she took in all this she thought where exactly they could be, before she thought of the words the elf had said

'_The sixth floor? But are we not outside…. where is this place, how big is this place!?'_

The thought was too much for her, and she reasoned she had no time to such things now, now was the time for battle, for blood and sweat and pain, and none of it, she reasoned would be hers.

"You've got some spine to challenge me human"

Her father was already taunting her, and it only fueled her hatred more,

"Don't worry, by the end of this I'll be the only one with a spine left" she shot back, fixing her gaze and lowering her body to ready herself to pounce

"Hooho, strong words, now tell me theocracy dog, do you have the power to stand behind them?"

At his words he released a wave of killing intent, it washed over her and her body reacted in the natural way she had been taught, she focused her mind and prepared for combat, she quickly began by using a martial art, from the feel of his power, she knew she could not mess around too much, and she didn't want to, not until he was grovelling at her feet.

[Reinforce Hide] [Ability Boost] she started off with a few of her more simple arts, she had no need for her more advanced ones yet, she heard her father speak, it seems he was starting off with a few martial arts as well

[Ability Boost] [Greater Ability Boost] [Physical Boost] [Greater Physical Boost] [Reinforce Hide] [Iron Body]

The last one she took note of, other than the already numerous arts he activated he began to lose some lustre as if becoming cold, she had not heard of any art called iron body but she could assume it was one of the body strengthening arts.

"Are you ready yet?' she taunted him

"You'll be sorry brat" he taunted back, before crouching

[Shukuchi]

He closed the distance in an instant, his body low to the ground, his fist bawled

'_Does he think I'm an amateur?_

She quickly set to swing her scythe in an upward arch,

He spun to avoid the strike, planted his foot and rushed with a raised fist,

She saw her opportunity and swung to meet it

"Fool, I'll take your arm"

[Shikuchi]

He accelerated, towards her, closing the gap instantly

The fist connected before she could defend, it hurt, bad!, and the shock sent her flying

She twisted in midair, landed, quickly finding her footing, she rushed back in the fray

'_Looks like this has potential'_

[Focus Battle Aura] [Greater Ability Boost] she threw in more arts to compensate, it was time to get serious.

They began fighting in earnest, fist met metal and the ringing could be heard all around.

'_What sort of Martial Art is that?'_

Zesshi couldn't understand how he was blocking her strikes with his bare hands, his fists would arrive just in time to impede her slashes and he would quickly counter to gain ground, she was starting to get pissed off.

'_I don't know his stamina, a war of attrition might not work'_

She decided to stop, she quickly settled into a low stance and brought her scythe forward, she rushed in

He tried to counter again

[Heavy Strike]

This time blood danced in between them and a sinister smile fell unto her face

He retreated quickly and stood his ground, looking over the cut, it wasn't bad but it would impede him now she thought.

"Impressive, not much gets through my Iron Body, I guess you're worthy to note" she heard him say

"Oh, I'm just getting started" she retorted

[Bane of Uranus] had the ability to multiply its damage output when she drew blood and the more the scythe drank, the thirstier it became, and now she would pound him into the ground and soak this land with his innards.

She gripped her scythe tight and began her assault.

* * *

Slyvin had been watching the fight with slight apprehension, he knew that Zesshi was strong, she could easily defeat most of the Black Scripture with no problems, but he had never heard of how the Elf King fights, and his style seemed odd.

He was unarmed, using his hands and feet in quick succession, the way he seemed to glide through the air and attack was like watching a choreographed dance number, with the added possibility of death.

They had been going back and forth for a few minutes, with Zesshi losing ground, but she quickly countered and drew blood,

'_She has him'_

Slyvin knew well the abilities of her weapon, and what it meant when she started fighting at full strength, part of her issue was she became more powerful as the fight dragged on something not many could compete with, and when her damage capability reached its peak, she could activate the scythe's special ability [Dominion of the Sky].

Zesshi began to press the King, her attacks more fluid, it seemed she found her flow, but the King's dexterity, agility and defensive prowess made it hard for a knockdown strike to occur,

Little by little, he saw that she was drawing more blood, and his defences seemed to weaken, she would win, of that he was sure.

After some impressive blows, she caught him with a heavy slash to his torso, the king spun and created distance using [Shukuchi] he quickly joined his hands and sunk low, there was a rhythmic noise coming from his mouth and quickly his body began to shine a light golden colour.

Slyvin was surprised, he had never seen an art like this before,

Zesshi was chasing to press her attack, the scythe mere seconds from reaching its target,

Just then the King stood, and threw a palmed hand towards her,

The air vibrated as a handprint slammed into Zesshi, pushing her back,

He followed with a punch which she avoided and threw herself to him, as she got close, he noticed the air vibrate again, and he threw his palm out again,

[Flow Acceleration], Zesshi acrobatically avoided the attack and appeared above the king, her weapon in hand, she swung down and caught his shoulder, blood seeping from the wound.

Her weapon began to glow a faint red colour.

'_Its time'_

"I'd give you the chance to say something, but you don't deserve it, though you can beg if you wish," she said, adding a burst of demented laughter.

The air above them began to shimmer, Slyvin knew what would come next, her next strike would rend anything within her attack radius almost non-existent, [Dominion of the Sky] allowed her to concentrate all the built up damage into one final strike, ignoring most defences, it was an attack which complimented her well.

What happened next surprised him a great deal,

"I concede" the words rang out loud enough for all to hear,

"What!" she said loudly, before attempting to bring her weapon down anyway, just then the voice of that ungodly monster rang through the air.

"Enough, our guest has conceded, the fight is done"

Zesshi was about to speak when she turned and looked at him, while he could not see her face, he knew why she said nothing, she knew his word was final.

She lowered her weapon, calling the king weak and began to walk towards the stands, the Elf King walking diligently towards the opposite side, just then the Blue Sky Dragonlord launched himself from the stands, he landed on the ground with a great racket, dust rising from his impact, he declared

"Come, Sorcerer King, Face Me!"

* * *

Jircniv was incredulous,

'_Does this fool have a death wish?'_

He was very much enjoying the match which was just had, the masked fighter from the Theocracy seemed almost inhumanly strong, but he could hardly believe the arrogance of this Dragonlord, to declare his intention to fight his master.

As expected a wave of killing intent flooded the arena, his guardians were not pleased by this declaration, and he almost felt pity for the dragon.

"Sebas" spoke the Sorcerer King and the butler quickly replied

"Yes, my lord"

* * *

Climb had long since been both shocked and awed to see Sebas by the Sorcerer King's side, he had not forgotten his old friend and to learn he was the personal butler to the Sorcerer King had set him aside for quite a while. He had always known Sebas to work for someone, but he had never even considered that his Majesty would be his master, Climb had even considered searching the butler out and asking him to join their effort to try and confront the Sorcerer King before his acquisition of the Re-Estize Kingdom, the thought making him laugh now.

The butler walked with practised grace towards the challenger and stood some distance from him with his hands behind his back, chest out and with a posture that spoke nothing of the power he hid within him, it was proud but servile, the form of the perfect butler.

The dragonlord spoke

"You send a butler to meet me, do you insult me, Sorcerer King?"

"I assure you, I will be more than enough" replied Sebas

Climb ventured a look at the delegation from the Argland Council State, the rest of the dragonlords looked both pensive and apologetic, it was clear to him that the Blue SKy Dragonlord was prideful and only issued the challenge to fill prove something, to himself only most likely.

'_You're going to regret that' _thought climb as he watched the beginning of the match.

"Do not worry, I won't hurt you too badly"

The dragonlord quickly closed the gap, his form disappearing and reappearing with great speed, he was arching for Sebas with a lightning fast fist, aiming straight for his chest.

A small shockwave could be heard, within the span of a second, no, much faster than even Climb could think, Sebas had entered a low fighting stance and shot a counter, a simple punch it seemed, and the dragonlord flew backwards like a cannonball, his Dragonoid body unable to even hold itself upright as he hit the ground and tumbled multiple times, before coming to a rest a few hundred meters away.

It was a complete victory, and the silence which followed was deafening,

"SUVERIA!" howled one of the dragonlords.

A moment later the Blue Sky Dragonlord began collecting himself from the ground, rising to his feet.

"I'm fine!" he coughed out.

It was a lie and he was clearly very angry,

The Blue Sky Dragonlord recollected himself, clearly, he was badly hurt, and it seemed he could not believe it himself. He made to crouch, his form moving, the air around him seemed to contract as he grew taller and muscular scaled wings sprouted from his back. Seabs for his part had returned to a natural and calm pose, simply waiting as the change continued, until the dragon was the equivalent of a reasonable mansion, his large head alone the size of a wagon, closing the distance slowly he looked down upon Sebas.

"Time to die butler"

The Dragonlord released his breath weapon, and a torrent of razor sharp wind made its way towards Sebas, the butler quickly threw himself to the side, avoiding the attack, the strong winds throwing a massive amount of dust into the air, a crater remaining where Sebas once stood.

"Please mind my clothes, I would rather not look unpresentable before my master,"

The comment enraged the dragon, with a surprising speed he whipped his body around and threw his tail towards Sebas, the latter simply dodging backwards before the attack could connect, when Sebas landed he launched himself towards the dragon, taking the offensive.

The Dragonlord flapped his massive wings and attempted to take to the air before he could escape, Sebas caught his retreating tail, and what followed next could only be compared to a parent disciplining a child.

Everyone was dumbfounded as the seemingly ordinary butler threw the dragon unto the ground, plucking it out of the air like one would a fly, and he did not stop,

Still holding the tail he again thrashed the Dragonlord against the other side of the ground, repeating the process as if working a ragdoll, once the shock had registered, two of the dragonlords quickly pounced to go relieve their comrade.

* * *

The Platinum Dragonlord was shocked to see how easily the fight went, and not to their favour, this butler seemingly made child's play of a full sized Dragonlord, the sight terrified him. As he thought this, two flashes of light flew past him, before he could protest the twins were making their way towards the area floor, towards this clear beatdown.

'_Damned brats'_

He considered yelling after them, but as they began to take on their true forms he knew it would not help, he began to stand before a voice called to him,

"Stop, Tsaindorcus, do not interfere yet" the Worm Dragonlord had held his hand out to stop him,

"Those idiots are going to get killed" he responded

"You heard the Sorcerer King, they can be resurrected should that happened, besides, Suveria needs this, he's far too arrogant for his own good."

He knew of his fellow's temper, he believed himself to be above many things, a mark of a dragon who would not be long for this world,

"Damn, if those three can't do it together, then I will intervene" he spat back before reluctantly taking his seat.

He shot a look to the Sorcerer King, and found that he wasn't even truly paying attention to the fight, seemingly chatting with the Dragon Queen,

"Three Dragonlords and this doesn't even register as an actual fight to him, he's not worried about his subordinate at all'" he heard the old man say softly,

"indeed…. "

Time passed,

The fight was going worse than he could have hoped, the three dragons were frantic, attacking one after the other, flanking from either side, using their breathes and all manner of tactics, yet the butler seemed too fast, too fluid, too strong for all of them combined,

'_Damn it, I need to do something'_

Before he could act, all three began to release their magics, seemingly desperate to win, they began to press the butler somewhat, and it relieved Tsa, he watched as they quickly found themselves surrounding the being. While no attack was connecting fully, they could dodge and apply pressure, the fight was no longer simply one-sided, as it continued they quickly regained their footing, though he knew the use of wild magic would come at a cost later on.

"Sebas, you are permitted to do what you wish to win." the owner of that voice spoke it in a very sure fashion, and as the butler dodged a ground swipe, he turned bowed and replied.

"Yes, my lord"

The deceleration came as a surprise to Tsa, he did not fully know what the Sorcerer King meant by those words, from what he could tell, the butler was a brawler, using his fists and no weapons.

'_Does he have some sort of weapon he can manifest?'_

He thought of how some of the Kings could manifest weapons seemingly out of thin air, and dreaded that this butler could do the same, what happened next, however, made him wish that was the case.

* * *

Dominic had been watching the fights with careful intent, he was very proud when he saw that Zesshi had defeated the Elf King, and the information they gathered from her fight was sufficient to allow her not killing him, Dominic was also very angry with the rest of his peers.

From the moment they had stepped foot into this place, no even before when they had been in the city he had seen the underlying evil, how the people were oppressed here, those massive undead monsters lurking in each corner of the place, threatening the civilians, these people needed to be saved and yet only a few could see that the others we so mesmerized by this bastard of an undead that they couldn't see it, but he could and he had a way to save them all.

He had once held pity for the butler, believing that he was a victim being compelled by that undead monster to obey its commands, but as he saw how it was battling three dragonlords at once, he understood that this creature was not human at all.

'_This is a land of the unclean'_

Dominic had devised a plan to ensure they would be safe, he had done his research to make sure that nothing would bring harm to his beloved Theocracy or the rest of the world, even those stupid demi-humans he pitied, and he would save them as well.

Dominic had spent the preparation portion of this summit experimenting on how to fight this undead, he needed a means of defeating him, and that was when an idea came to mind.

He knew he could not use the sacred treasures of the gods, only special people born with their blood, or awakened god-kin could use the holiest items, often the process would kill those who tried and failed, but he also knew that he wouldn't get another chance like this, to be so close to this pit of evil and have a chance to destroy it.

In secret, he and the Cardinal of Light had called for trials to be done with potential candidates for the sacred treasure [Downfall of Castle and Country] and after some worthy sacrifices, they learned that there were people who could use the treasure a few times before succumbing to death or insanity. And when they had made to leave for this place his group had hidden one of those members within the escorts they had brought, he was very careful to ensure that the traitor Raymond was not in the know. And while not discussing it over with the rest was a breach of decorum, he knew it was for the betterment of humanity, he needed to end this threat, to end this Sorcerer King once and for all.

'_For all the living'_

As he was patiently waiting for an opportunity, he sat watching the fight, the dragons were now trying to even the fight, and the numbers seemed to start to help, they were finally looking to make a counter attack when the damn undead called out and spoke something about permission.

The butler replied in a stoic manner and suddenly, a great gust of wind pulsed out pushing even the dragons back, and in the centre of it the butler stood, seeming to wait for something, a silence descended upon the crowd and a pale blue light erupted around the butler, he was engulfed in it, and as this occurred the Platinum Dragonlord threw himself towards the fray, stopping before the other dragons and waiting pensively for whatever was to follow.

Even Dominic had to admit the sight was surprising to him, as the light reached into the heavens, he saw the Butler begin to shift, his black suit seemingly seeking into him, and as the light intensified, his form completely disappeared.

Then a roar reverberated throughout the entire arena, the light expanded within and from the depths he saw a massive arm reach out, it was clad in silver scales, the scales were a brilliant silver with the very edges dipped in red, the sight making it look as if the blood was lining the beast, a leg peered from the light before two massive draconic wings followed, Dominic leaned with his heart in his throat as the light faded, stranded in place of the butler was a Dragonoid the like so which he had never seen. Its size was massive almost 3 meters tall from where he was standing, every corner of the beast exude power, its chest was decorated in the same scales and a red gem was fixed directly in its centre, he had been completely side smacked before his mind raced into overdrive.

'O_pportunity!'_

He quickly made for the escort, and reached out to her, while everyone was awestruck staring at this new form the butler had wrought, he made to use this for his own means, he quickly accessed where the Sorcerer King was and found that his escort would have enough distance for the weapon,

"Use it" he instructed,

She quickly jumped from her position, using the spectacle as a distraction before she threw off her cloak, her garments resembled a long flowing dress of pure white, a massive dragon latching itself unto the dress, and as she activated the item, the dragon glowed before coming to life.

Just than people began to notice the commotion, he saw Raymond turn and look at him before realizing what was happening, his smile betrayed his intentions as the dragon began to dance and make its way towards the Sorcerer King, engulfing him completely, right where he sat.

'NOOOOOO!" yelled Raymond

'_It's too late' _

Dominic thought, now laughing like a madman, tears streaming down his face.

'_I've saved us all'_


	12. Chapter 12

**An: So I'll be doing a Q&A for the next release and answering a few questions concerning the story elements and my decision to include and not include certain loveable characters, but thank you everyone for the support, please keep reviewing, there's been a lot of great ideas that have helped me shape the story in the past and going forward, thank you again and see you next time.**

**Chapter 12**

Raymond was astonished by the sight before him, four dragonlords, three in their true forms facing off against a single member of the Sorcerer King's party, this same member had been allowed into the borders of the Slane Theocracy with almost no resistance.

'_Had he rampaged through the country, how much damage would have occurred before we could have stopped him?'_

The being he saw now was an apex predator, a beast of power and absolute strength, a very fitting image considering his master, but more than this, he found it reassuring knowing that he was never ordered to incite any form of violence.

Raymond was overall pleased with how the summit was preceding, he found that the Sorcerer King was indeed relatable, and he seemed extremely intelligent, which either added to his fear factor, or helped relieve it, Raymond didn't know which answer was truer, but he reasoned to wish for the best.

'_Other than Dominic's antics, I'd wager we may get some manner of peace out of this'_

He had been very disappointed with the reactions from the Cardinal of Wind, his overall propensity for outbursts of anger and mass disrespect towards the Sorcerer King was fast becoming tiresome, Raymond had been concerned his words would incite war, and he knew as of right now the Sorcerer King would have the excuse he needed to do so, as he had invited them into his domain and one of their members was now openly disrespecting him with many nations bearing witness, it didn't seem good.

He was thus thankful nothing seemed to come of the situation yet, but now this challenge would soon conclude and he had to begin thinking about the future negotiations which would determine the relationship they would have with the Sorcerous Kingdom. At the very least a pact of non-aggression would be beneficial but those terms could be hashed later, he wished to enjoy the spectacle which was unfolding before him, a sight which he was very sure would most likely never be seen again in the spirit of sport.

As he was being awed by the flashy transformation, he felt movement from behind him, he ventured to gaze to ensure nothing was out of sorts, what he found left him dazed, confused, and then horrified as the picture came together.

Raymond quickly pieced together what was happening, he saw that Dominic was no longer focused on the arena, seemingly giving instructions to one of the escorts behind him, he ventured to see who it was. The cloaks the escorts had worn had slight identification markings on them, coded so that only those in the Theocracy's council would know who they were, ensuring privacy, but also accountability before he could even manage a full glance, the cloak was discarded, and an impending sense of dread filled him.

The woman had on the highest treasure of the Theocracy, [Downfall of Castle and Country], Raymond watched with increasing horror as the woman turned to face in the direction of the unassuming Sorcerer King,

'_Oh gods!' _he thought, quickly yelling,

"NOOOO!" but he was too late, Dominic let out a peal of maniacal laughter, something demented and twisted within it.

A world of white enveloped the Sorcerer King and Raymond's heart sank,

'_We're doomed'_

The council had discussed the possibility of utilizing the treasure on the Sorcerer King before, ruling out the possibility for several reasons, many of which included the difficulty of bringing the treasure, the potential for it to be stolen away or discovered, all of this made for the idea to be quickly discarded, but Raymond had thought of many more possibilities which not only made the idea idiotic but downright stupid. Chief among these was the location, while it was true they would be within range of the Sorcerer King, and the prospect of controlling him tantalizing, they did not know the full capability of his retinue, nor would they be in a safe position should anything occur, attempting such an action within the depths of a nation one just made enemies of was unthinkable, only someone with a complete death wish would attempt such a thing, and here was Dominic, attempting such a thing.

Others had already noticed as the white light began to fade, Emperor Jircniv, the boy King Zanec and his sister Renner were standing aghast with fear at the event, the Dragon Queen who was within close proximity to the Sorcerer King was taken aback and she seemed to try to get closer, as if attempting to pull the mighty undead away from the light, his 'guardians however seemed less anxious about the event, which he took to be their fear or shock of what was occurring binding them to inaction, but one common phrase left their tongues,

"Your Majesty!"

It seemed almost like a cry for help, one a babe would make when missing its mother, and clearly none of them knew of the divine items capability nor of its existence, but now, Dominic had made it public knowledge, they would all know of what the Theocracy possessed and as he tried to think quickly on how to best resolve or escape from this situation, Dominic began ranting like a madman

"HAHAHA, YOU SEE, I'VE DONE IT, I'VE SAVED US ALL, HAHAHAHHA, IT'S OURS NOW, ALL THAT POWER IS OURS!"

Raymond quickly collected himself before trying to piece together a response, and as his mind was about to reprimand his fellow cardinal,

A feeling made its way up along his back,

Like a jolt of electricity, he heard a familiar voice,

"Ahh, I see, so this was your idea?"

His heart sank, this was not a possibility, this was not a reality which could occur, Dominic's laughter immediately cut out, as if simply removed from the world, he stood, watching as the flames re-emerged within the empty sockets of the Sorcerer King, and through what felt like hours, they turned and fell solely upon Dominic, he raised his hand as if reaching for something.

[Grasp Heart]

Raymond heard the words and immediately the escort collapsed, like a puppet whose strings had been cut. Everyone was silent after the scene, there was no fight, no retaliation, no discussion, no plea, no begging for mercy, or retort for exhortation, there was nothing, simply a word, and death.

Nobody moved, and all eyes were on the now corpse, the other escorts seemingly tensed themselves as if they too were going to be next, truly no one knew what would occur next, but again it was Dominic who came to only make things worse.

He screamed,

"HOW CAN THIS BE, HOW CAN YOU NOT BE CONTROLLED, THE ITEM WORKED, THE GODS WASHED YOU IN THE TREASURES LIGHT, HOWWWW!"

He was crying now, frantic and very clearly afraid, the Sorcerer King said nothing, and simply looked at him, he began to raise his hands again, slowly this time, with almost practised patience, as if waiting or something else to happen, knowing it too would be futile, and as if playing along to a script Dominic complied, he stumbled backwards, trying to create ground, all eyes in the stadium were following him, no one would risk intervening, no one would risk looking away, Dominic stumbled backwards and fell, he then began quickly fishing within his robes, confusion hit Raymond for a mere second before he tried to jump and stop the fool, but it was too late.

Dominic held in his hands one of the 8 godly weapons, and with an almost psychotic fumbling unleashed its spell, and towards the skies, a holy light broke through, creating clouds upon which broke and light shone, and from that light, slowly descending towards the ground was an angel of pure and holy power.

The angel was massive, and had translucent wings of holy light, its body clothed in a pure white robe, flowing outwards towards the world, it held in its right hand a blade with a radiant golden glow, looking as if it would render apart all the world's evil, and in its left hand it held a scale, a symbol of its power to judge all within its domain, the angel descended slowly and Dominic had his head facing it crying tears of salvation, his hope resting upon the power of this most divine of beings

All spectating we're transfixed by the sight until a voice again broke them all from the dream,

"Is this all you people can do, summon low-level angels, this is a waste of my time"

He pointed his staffed hand towards the angel,

[Black Hole]

A distorted torrent of energy opened itself directly in front of the angel, the hole contorted and pulled the angel, ripping it bit by bit as it consumed its majestic form, leaving only darkness and shattered hope, a beguiled Dominic still had his head raised, as if the angel was still there,

"Shalltear, hold them"

Raymond tried to collect himself form the shock of the events,

[Mass Hold Species]

Raymond felt stuck, trapped, his body was completely immobile and fear began to crop up within him, and he could not foresee what would occur next, would they all die here because of this idiot, what would become of the Theocracy, he could have cursed Dominic, to torment and a lifetime of pain, but his mouth would not move.

* * *

No one had said a word when the portal was opened, no one spoke as everyone returned to the beautiful white conference room, the majority of people now were collected on one side, of the forty-one chairs gathered here many were not being used, and but sitting down were the collected makeshift 'council' which the Sorcerer King had drafted for this incident, the Sorcerer King had been very generous in allowing the party at fault here to live, Jircniv knew that and this 'trial' he believed was not even required, but he went along because of how absolutely ludicrous the last series of events were.

It was always a sight to see when the Sorcerer King released his magic and feeling up close how easily he could swat away an angel of that magnitude was jaw-dropping, but now was not the time for such things.

Sitting in a row with the Sorcerer King at its centre was JIrcniv, the Argland High Council, the Re-Estize king and Prime Minister Renner, as well as the Dragon Queen, interestingly she had chosen to sit on the side comprising of himself, Zanec and Renner, with the shared quality of being vessels of the Sorcerous Kingdom, this little detail all but assured Jircniv of what she intended, and if this summit had not already shown her the benefits and folly of not being allied with the Sorcerer King, he was sure nothing would. The Elf King had chosen to not include himself in the council and was seemingly nursing himself of his injuries in another seat, having refused the healing from the Sorcerer King, he sat, spectating.

As his mind thought of folly he looked across the table, he let his eyes sit upon the Theocracy representatives, they had collected everyone and brought them back to the conference room, many were cooperative and after the stunt caused by their Cardinal of Wind, he was sure they would not be very combative considering they now could be held for open hostilities during a peaceful gathering, Jircniv believed what happened next might very well be the end of the long history of the Theocracy, the supposed heroes of humanity.

There was one last major change which had occurred, the air within the room was cold, absolutely freezing, but it was partially because of the temperature, the blue insect had small ice crystals dancing around his form as he stared at the Cardinals, everything close to him seemed to want to free and opposite him the butler had resumed his human form and there was a dangerous look within his eyes, every guardian had assembled and flanked the Sorcerer King, their blood lust was palpable and even the beauty, looked as if she had something within her just waiting to burst.

"[Downfall of Castle and Country], interesting," the Sorcerer King finally said, eyeing the dress which was laid out on the table before the Theocracy and breaking the almost awkward tension which had been present in the room.

The Cardinal of WInd had been bound with some spell from the little girl and was still frozen awaiting judgement, the purpose of this council was to see if they would include the rest of them in the attempted attack or if they would be vindicated. They had all sworn up and down of their non-involvement, praying that this is seen as an isolated incident, perpetrated by a single mad individual, and the subsequent interrogation had seemingly proved most of their innocence.

"How is it you know of it?" asked the Cardinal of Water hesitantly, the entire group seemed curious but they more resembled scared rats, trying their best to appear small before a violent storm,

"It is an item from Yggdrasil, I presume a relic owned by your gods"

This made sense, it seems this Yggdrasil world was quite fantastical, its natives and items were beyond imagination, Jircniv pledged to research more of this, and learn more of what it might be.

"This item is a treasure of the Theocracy, a legacy of our blessed gods, Dominic had no right to bring it here or to try to utilize it." spoke the Pontifex, trying to both exonerate them again and to lessen the impact.

"[Downfall of Castle and Country] has the power to control any individual, regardless of racial classes or mental or magical defences, it is a particularly potent item and one which can be very dangerous. But I presume you all already knew that." spoke the Sorcerer King calmly,

"We had no intention of using this upon you your Majesty," said the Cardinal of Earth

"I believe it is too late to speak on intentions is it not Cardinal?"

The retort was very blunt, it spoke of consequence, and Jircniv could not imagine what sort of recompense his master would ask, he ventured to look at the item, surely something this powerful he would demand, it was then the thought came to him, after hearing his master detail the effects of this relic, how is it he was not controlled?

He struggled to reason how his master had done such a thing, if indeed this item's power was so then surely he would be at the mercy of that Cardinal by now, though it can be said they would all be dead long before they would issue a command, his guardians would have seen to that swiftly. But the question still lingered, taunting him until at last, he ventured to play his luck and speak.

"Your Majesty, please forgive my intrusion but I wish to know if this item truly has such fearsome power as you say, how is it you were not affected?"

The room seemed to pick up, they were all dying to know and he guessed that he would be receiving some grateful looks from his peers for having the courage to ask just that.

"I will not disclose the specifics, but to understand you must know something concerning what this item is, this is considered a World Item"

Jircniv was awed, the word itself spoke of power, and at the mention of an explanation everyone looked on with open ears, even Dominic who was immobile had his eyes, full of hate, but also curiosity as the Sorcerer King continued,

"The World Items are indeed neigh all powerful, each one having the power of an entire world, they come in varying forms and functions each capable of phenomena which would be considered impossible such as [Downfall of Castle and Country]'s ability to mind control even the undead, that being said, it is, of course, possible to counter World Items,"

Before he could continue as if begging to know the Cardinal of Water questioned; "With what, how!?"

"Another World Item" he answered, the room collectively gasped,

'_There are more of these ridiculous things, each with the power of a whole world?!_

As Jircniv struggled to conceptualise just how much power such an item could contain, he thought, if that is the case, then the Sorcerer King had defended himself from the effects of such an item, which means he also has possession of one of these World Items.

As the shock of such a thing came to him, he realized once again that he did not and would not ever fully comprehend the full might of the Sorcerer King, if he had use of an item which could override the very laws of the universe than what else was he capable of.

"Do you see, this why he allowed us to bring weapons in the first place, so this possibility could occur, clearly you knew of our relic, did you set us up from the beginning?!"

The Cardinal of Light was frantic his breathing hard as he threw out the words, it was a sad sight, the divine magic caster had a very prestigious reputation and now he was being reduced to a bumbling mess, but such was the price for going against a god.

"I allowed you weapons to ensure you felt safe, on good faith I invited you into my home, into my nation, to speak of peace and here one of your own brings the intent and the means to harm me,"

The words cut deep and the Cardinal immediately sat back, knowing he had no words for such a response,

"In my time, when we were faced with difficult decisions, we would hold a vote, I will in the good faith of this council purpose a vote, on what should be done with this item, and the Cardinal who intended to use it on me" continued the Sorcerer King

The idea immediately seemed to draw lines between the members present, the Cardinal of Fire spoke,

"This relic is a symbol of our gods, a historical vestige of the Slane Theocracy, we cannot allow anyone to dictate its fate, it is ours and ours alone."

"Your own, brought such an item here, into my home, in order to take control of me and bind me to his service, I need not remind everyone of the power my nation holds, should he have succeeded to what extent would he have devastated this world, using me as a proxy. Would he have started a genocide hundreds of thousands would have died, millions even, and all blame would have been kept from the real perpetrators? I question whether the Theocracy indeed has the capability to handle such a weapon, I question the events of the past, and your hand in them, for that reason I propose this vote, my nation will take responsibility of [Downfall of castle and Country]."

The idea was outrageous and immediately the Theocracy made to speak on it when they were interrupted by the Platinum Dragonlord,

"I support the measure."

"WHAT!?, how can you agree with this?"

"I have more faith now in the restraint of the Sorcerer King than I do that of your Theocracy,"

There were some questionable looks before one of the other dragonlords, who had received healing for his injuries against the butler, easily said,

"Why bother?"

"Think on it, after the explanation it is clear to us all why this item failed to occupy the Sorcerer King,"

He left the words there for those who had not yet realized the implication of the event from his Majesty's explanation earlier, those people Jircniv took note of, as they would indeed be useless in any manner which required critical thinking, a list he believed he would need to start.

"He has one," Zanec said, realization dawning upon him

"Precisely, and if they are all indeed as powerful as this, and the Sorcerer King has had the restraint to utilize it, then I trust he would be better to safeguard another, I would not trust anyone else with this matter, nor would anyone else have the means to protect it should someone try to,... Steal, the item"

The words were directed at the Theocracy, it was clear he did not trust them at all, the leaders around began slowly nodding their heads as they thought this realization over.

"You have no right, we have done nothing to endanger you before, this was an isolated event!" a member of the Theocracy shot back.

"I can speak to the invalidity of that statement," said the Sorcerer King, a hushed gasp could be heard,

"Your people had already transgressed upon me, some number of years ago a member of my guard was out in the world, performing surveillance as to how safe this a place would be. When she was attacked by a band on unknown assailants, my staff could not ascertain any information concerning this incident but my guardian was left mind controlled, an impossible status for they are undead, it could only be the work of a world item, and now, here stands [Downfall of castle and Country]."

The words brought surprise to many, some of the escorts seemed to tense up as they were said and the Cardinals were visibly shaken, one of them again spoke,

"You have no proof of this!"

"I can attest to the validity of what his Majesty says"

Everyone again stared at the Platinum Dragonlord as he continued,

"A number of years ago, I had heard from an old friend of mine that a powerful vampire was on the outskirts of the city of E-Rantel assuming it may be one of the more dangerous Dragonlords I prepared myself to attack and kill it, when I arrived it was unresponsive, simply standing in the middle of the field until I engaged it, it power was much more than anything I was prepared for so I made to escape, but to my surprise it did not pursue as if compelled to remain"

He paused, looking at one of the guardians, and pointing to the small girl behind the Sorcerer King,

"This is the very same vampire which I attacked those years ago, when I had seen her besides the Sorcerer King, worry filled me, I knew of her danger and remained vigilant, but after this event and understanding of the power this item holds, and his Majesty's recanting of the story, it is clear to me that you were the individuals who attacked her, controlled her, but I cannot work out to what end. But regardless of that, this item has been used before, recently and I cannot trust that you will not use it again,"

When he had finished his speech, the old man, spoke

"I too agree with the Sorcerer King's measure, should myself or my brethren have been controlled, you could have ordered us to destroy cities, sparking outrage and war against our nation, we know of how much you hate us, how much you have sought to destroy us in the past. Your ideals preach violence against other races, demi-humans and heterotrophs alike, you are clearly a threat to us all,"

The vote was almost set, with only the Dragon Queen left, of course, the vessels would vote in favour, this was a simple fact Jircniv had understood, as well he had seen the peace which the rule of the Sorcerer King had brought, he had no reason to distrust his master, though it was clear to him now, this Summit it was a means for him to expose and combine against the Theocracy, in a single day he has dismantled their trust with other nations, isolated them and openly taken from them a relic from their gods, Jircniv was beyond impressed, and he could not but fathom how all this had been planned and executed so masterfully,

'_Did he see all this coming, is that why he was prepared, even against this World Item? Truly his Majesty is beyond comprehension'_

As he thought on the events of the day, he realized how coordinated everything way, this summit provided an excellent opportunity for anyone too radical in the Theocracy, and all he needed was one mistake, and he could place them in check, truly masterful he continued to think.

"I too agree with the vote, this weapon is indeed dangerous, and I will hold trust that his Majesty will keep it safe"

The Dragon Queen finally spoke and ended the long debate, the Cardinals looked absolutely outraged, before they could protest, the butler, came and took possession of the World Item, folding it carefully and returning to his post,

"You cannot do this, this is outrageous."

"We have voted fairly as neighbour nations, it is clear you cannot be trusted with such a power, but there is indeed one more item to consider."

Everyone's eyes wondered to Dominic, still immobile in his seat, and as the conversation became about him, his eyes widened dramatically.

"I will consider this as an act of a single individual, I will not hold your nation at fault for the transgressions of one leader, but I cannot allow this offence to go unpunished, I ask that you hand him over to me,"

"Take him, he's yours" spat the Cardinal of Fire angrily.

The quick reply caught many people off guard, no one had anticipated such a thing so quickly, and while Jircniv knew they could not dare refuse he too was surprised.

"Wait, I believe we need to deliberate this before we can fully answer, I pray Sorcerer King, allow us time to vote on our own about the matter," said the Cardinal of Light, trying to save his fellow,

It seems there was some discontent at the suggestion, but nonetheless the Sorcerer King obliged, he allowed them to cast a protective spell to deliberate in private, but the clear emotions on their faces and gestures made Jircniv understand there was no peace in that discussion, they were all very angry, after some moments, the spell was ended and they returned with their verdict.

"We will give you Dominic, but we pray you may return to us the treasure"

The very notion of bargaining the fate of one of their own as opposed to the World Item was incredulous to Jircniv, the fact they would even ask was outrageous and as expected the Sorcerer King denied it.

"That cannot happen, the fate of the World Item is already decided, we all do not feel you are capable of such a responsibility. Now will you hand him over or will you not, that choice is yours."

He made clear there was no room for negotiations, this was a matter already determined, and as Jircniv thought this all over, he knew there was never a choice in the first place.

"We.. we will hand you the criminal' said the Pontifex Maximus

"Excellent, I will, in turn, forgive any and all transgressions"

The matter was decided with Dominic looking quite panicked in the corner, he clearly wished to make a case for himself, or as Jircniv thought over the man's tendencies, more of a mess than he was already in.

"Will he be tortured?" the Cardinal of Darkness asked in a soft voice

"No, I will do no such thing, I have no need to kill or torture the Cardinal, but he must be punished"

He called to the supposed vampire who could match a dragonlord, which was a shock in and of itself to Jircniv,

"Shalltear, he will be a guest in your levels, send him to Kyouhukou, I know he always needs more help with his children."

The comment made no sense to most people and confusion was obvious but the girl quickly bowed and moved towards the immobilized Cardinal, the hole quickly appearing and fear evident in his eyes, Jircniv did no know what to make of the punishment but he understood the anxiety of not knowing one's fate but as he thought it over, he found no real reason to be too afraid.

'_I'd say he got off easy if all he's doing is working with this Kyouhukou's kids' (AN: crunch crunch)_


	13. Q&A

**Q&A**

Q: Where is Pope Neia, the holy beloved of our cult

A: So this is one of the most frequent questions concerning the story and I totally understand, my reason for not including the Holy Roble Kingdom is more of a personal one than anything else really. I realized very quickly that I would not be able to give our dear pope the justice her character requires, I know a lot of us here have read _atheistbasementdragon's_ brilliant rendition of Neia in God Rising and his other works and honestly I have no intention to compete with that, it's impossible, he flushed out and created such a vivid view of how she is that I cannot imagine doing anything better or anything different, hell i think it's where Maruyama-sama should take the character. As well when I was thinking about what sort of track I wanted the story to take I realized that I could make something relatively effective without having them be part, it would indeed make some inconsistencies but I chose to still have them sit out, than to try and tackle her character knowing I would not be able to fully encapsulated her.

'_Another shameless plug for anyone who hasn't still somehow read atheistbasementdragon's works, do it!, the guy is in a whole other world in respect to story depth and character development, that shit is amazing.'_

It was this thinking that also made for the Dwarves to not be included, I wanted to make sure my story was as consistent without being too big, I couldn't see myself keeping track of so many characters, while keeping detail and having it all make sense, perhaps when I learn more and grow as a writer I'll include a bigger universe in future stories but for this one I wanted to tackle something I felt confident would be quality and I hope it's been that so far.

Q: Character Levels

A: So this one is a bit harder to speak to because I feel as if a lot of it is mainly opinion based. I have heard a lot of differing opinions and insights concerning which character might be what and who did what, I know my levels for ZZ and PD might seem low for some but that's mainly what I estimate using the LN as a basis, mainly because the events which occur with them in the WN are a little different, such as PDL effectively nuking Shalltear and bypassing her defences in the WN, whereas he got bodied in the LN, it seems to me that Nazarick was given a massive power buff for the LN as to the WN, and that's where I base most my estimates from. Another thing I've heard is surrounding the DDDL, and I personally chose to place him aside because of the fact he hasn't surfaced in the LN, and there's really no concrete levels for him, we know he had a WI in the WN from killing player but we know nothing of that situation, was it a level 1(unlikely) or were they level 100, so many question, so few answers and i think it won't translate to the LN fully but like I said earlier the WN seems to have stronger new world character than the LN in general. But at the end of the day, it's all opinion based, and for me, I personally think that's where they sit, but we are all wrong until Maruyama-sama decides what is what.

Q: Story direction, where's this shit going

A: I right now have it slated for 4 parts, and we are just getting done with part 2, there will be at least 1 chapter finishing part two before the start of the second half of the story, it'll comprise a few more original elements and what I personally see as a great way to really drill into everyone how great Ainz and Nazarick truly is.

Q: World Class Items and Super Tier Spell use

A: So I know I didn't really explain but I went with the idea that the Throne of Kings negated Downfall, I don't know enough about the WI that Ainz is supposed to have within him and what exactly it does, so I chose to stray away from touching on that really, and I know we've speculated on what sort of power and protection the Throne offers while its in Nazarick so it wouldn't have mattered who Downfall would have been aimed at, it would have failed because they were within Nazarick in my opinion.

Another question on WI is that of Ahura Mazda, and that's involved in this, and it's a tough question because I can see the Theocracy having such an item but it becomes a question of plot convenience, I personally believe the six great gods, were alright players at best, and we know from the history of Yggdrasil that the guild with the second most WIs had three, a far shot from the 11 AOG had, so I am still on the fence about whether the six would have had something as situationally convenient as Ahura Mazda just because that's an actual threat to pretty much all of Nazarick, or perhaps they might have a differ WI that would fit the Theocracy better, depending on what's up :)

As for Super tier spell, I mean we all know those things are just amazing spectacles whenever one goes off, but I don't anticipate too many, I have some questions about a couple that I wish would be answered such as [Sword of Damocles] …. If anyone knows anything, please let me know. But overall I'll keep this specific thing to a minimum

Q: Why the Cliffhangers

A: I'm just a sadistic bloody bastard, sorry, expect more to come hahahaha

Bonus Q: Suggestions being in the story

A: I absolutely love the feedback I get from everyone and you guys have suggested some extremely amazing ideas, one of which was by Spacemonkey777 about Sebas being 30 meters instead of 3 and I lost it thinking of how awesome that would have been, so please do keep suggesting things and critiquing, it makes me better and grow and really does help change little detail elements of the story that I think has only helped it become better, more minds are better than one.

_Also PervySageChuck I promise you, that I will get you all the juicy details about the Elf King's Throne Room, on the name Ainz Ooal Gown there will be a damn chapter about it_

Bonus A: One thing that might be coming up is something that I know some people might not fully agree with but I personally have been dying to see, I am thinking about adding World Disaster to Ainz's build, mainly just for grand Catastrophe, I cannot think of any better way of putting on display the absolute magnitude of difference between everyone else and our lord Ainz and GC is the most destructive spell full stop, so I would love to use it and I know just who to use it on, so if I do utilize it, I apologise ahead of time for making Ainz even more OP than he already is but I hope to write it in the most satisfying way possible

Until next time, thank you all for the love and support, and I'll see you tomorrow with a new release


	14. Chapter 14

**AN: So I re-read my previous edition of this yesterday and I agree I found it lacking, I really do appreciate everyone who pointed out the sudden changes and other inconsistencies, I was very happy to kind take a different direction with Raymond's character because I really do like him, and he'll be doing some things in upcoming chapters which make much more sense now, so thank you all for helping me, please keep reviewing and I'll see you all soon**

**-Learning**

Chapter 14

The Cardinal of light had had his suspicions from the beginning, he had been privy to the thoughts and actions of Dominic before they came here and had helped him in trying to find a way to use [Downfall of Castle and Country], but his fellow Cardinal had been too hasty, he rushed and paid dearly for it.

'Damn it, Dominic, you should have told me from the beginning'

Worse still was the present situation, this summit was fast becoming a living nightmare for Yvon, everything was going to absolute shit and he could not contain the idea that this felt orchestrated, he was slowly and surely becoming extremely angry. As a follower of the six, he had a duty to stamp out evil wherever it reigned, he had the duty to uphold justice and deliver the people to salvation, and now he was staring down the very abyss of darkness, of that he was sure. He had thought that Dominic was rash, but what right did this creature have to give a Cardinal punishment, only the gods held that right, and while he thought this to himself he also knew that Dominic's actions had been inexcusable and his demeanour put the faith and the Theocracy to shame, or worse could have incited war with the Sorcerer King, an extremely dangerous idea… when done poorly, they needed to plan, Yvon was convinced now, nothing like this could be allowed to happen, it lessened the name of the Gods.

Yvon had been low born, his parents nothing more than common workers, but he had been born with a special talent for divine magic, his parents regarded him as a gift, they had always prayed to the gods, and they in their infinite power and mercy heard them. When Yvon was only 10 years old he could already cast second tier healing and divine magic spells, by the time he was 12 he could cast those of the third tier, this rapid growth quickly made him a star. His family heralded him has a blessing from the gods, and his village benefited greatly from him when the day came to join the priesthood he was more than willing to use his talents and let them flourish, he found himself advancing through the ranks with ease, his peers loved him, and his teachers even respected him, his piety and devotion was unmatched and his ability to cast now 5th tier spells made him indispensable. He was talented and devoted, and the gods worked through him, he could feel them when he cast his spells he could hear them when they gave him power and he could see all the good their light brought unto the world.

it was this connection to the gods which ensured that not a single part of him that was not absolutely infuriated by the taking of their national treasure, the holy relics were fundamental to the Theocracy both as a military component as well as a historical heritage. This 'vote' they had to take from them something so important was inexcusable and as he thought it over he only got angrier, he had long since made a list of the present members, the bastards who would try to cripple his Theocracy and undermine the will of the Gods.

As he thought more about how they had ended up in this situation, his rage grew almost out of control, Yvon had always believed in the practice of patience and goodwill to reflect the mercy and light of the six, their selfless actions should be held as inspiration for all, and so he did not like to get angry, he would repent for this sin later, but for now he needed to think, he needed to find a way for them to get [Downfall of Castle and Country] back and for a way to ensure these filthy creatures understood that the Theocracy was not to be trifled with.

They had all bit their tongues and been silent as reason after reason was laid for the thieving of their powerful weapon and he knew above all they were just greedy for this item, all of these damned monsters were, and while he was indeed angry, he still had to be cautious for the tales that were told about it, if this damned monster was right, then he also possessed something which could rival their gods weapon, and upon learning it was a so-called 'world item' he had been reaffirmed that the gods were indeed such, to be able to have such a powerful and divine artefact as their own, a fact which only deepened his hatred for all those involved with this ordeal.

Yvon had been sitting for a few minutes with his thoughts

'This is all your doing you damn bastard, you may have tricked some, but not all'

He had indeed been impressed with everything he had seen so far, he knew the technology here was wondrous, but he also knew that temptation was the weapon of evil. He saw as some of his peers seemed to be losing sight of the goal but this incident seemed to have made even them more cautious, something he could use to return them to see reason and to conceive a plan to deal with this creature and its insufferable minions. Yvon understood that at times Dominic may have been loud and rash, but he also knew that his friend was among the most devoted to the gods, among the most practised in their faith and had been trying to defend them from the entity known as the Sorcerer King,

'I will avenge you my friend, of that I promise'

He knew all this was true, and without a shadow of a doubt, he knew now they needed to act, he sought to find peace in it all, but nothing came to him, he would not allow himself or the Theocracy to abandon the gods, they would keep the faith even if it means facing oblivion. Yvon knew his being was powerful, but so what, he was convinced defying the gods was beyond this simple undead's power, and if they could not destroy him, then they would condemn him when they were all gone, he would not suffer to live in the same world, and he would make sure they all fought to save humanity and avenge all who had been tricked by this vile creature into the darkness.

* * *

Ainz was absolutely thrilled, he was so happy in fact that his emotional dampener had kicked in to calm him down, but still, the feeling lingered, which evidently he enjoyed in contrast to his normal anxious state. As he took the time to relish in this he had been just nodding along to the summit and the dealings which went on, he really didn't pay much attention to anything as he noted how much power was just acquired, any world class item was powerful and [Downfall of Castle and Country] was one he could use without worry of it being expended, but the thought brought with it some questions.

'I wonder what other world class items could be here?'

The thought began to spread in his mind and he did not want to think about the potential that some of the more powerful of the world items, especially any of the twenty, could show up and be used against him, anything like Ahura Mazda would be devastating to the entirety of Nazarick

'Perhaps I need to better research this type of possi….'

"Your Majesty, I wish to ask your thoughts a few matters"

He raised his head to indicate they can continue, the one who asked the question was the Prime Minister of the Dragon Kingdom, the man had not spoken much during the meeting other than giving his name, and while Ainz had nodded and said something he honestly couldn't remember it any more, so he chose to respond in gesture than in words, the man continued,

"I have been informed of some of the projects your majesty has embarked upon, please rely what your intentions are on this highway project, what is it you wish to accomplish?"

The question caught him a little off guard and he scrambled to think of something,

"Umu,"

He tried to sound contemplative, taking the time to enter one of his more regal poses in an attempt to at least by himself some more time.

"Imagine if you would a nation, one of the most critical components to the prosperity of any nation is how well it can manoeuvre itself, being able to transport goods and services quickly along its borders provides all regions with the support required to flourish and grow. The highway is meant to do just that when it is fully realized it will span the entirety of the Sorcerous, Baharuth, Re-Estize, and Aleblion Hills. Imagine people, goods, and more all moving in predetermined paths to major centres, cities can become larger, new areas can be discovered and most importantly, these routes will be safe, merchants and travellers need not worry of random monsters or bandits, that is the overall vision of the project. In another world, there was a saying: all roads lead to Rome; Rome was a prosperous metropolis of human innovation and technology, the hub of that world if you will, the saying was meant to convey that all routes in that world would lead to that prosperous centre."

"A human nation?"

The question was the first peep that escaped from anyone in the Theocracy corner, at the mention of a prosperous human nation they seemed very much interested at last, seeming to think this might work well with their dogma, the member continued with another question.

"This world you visited had a prosperous human nation?"

"Indeed, Rome was a jewel in the flow of time, their people made strides in art, history, arithmetic, sciences, astronomy, medicine, almost anything and everything under the stars, Rome was the birth of several innovative military concepts, they built aqueducts and waterways which allowed the entire city to be properly supplied with clean fresh water,"

The group was surprised, especially the dragonlords, with one saying

"And humans did this, what is this world?"

"Indeed they did, it was a planet called Earth, it is,... it was, beautiful."

There was sadness and bitterness in those words, and they all seemed to pick up on it,

"Was?"

"Indeed, it was,..."

Most of the group looked on interested, and he pulled himself to continue, there was hatred welling within him as memories began taking form and he had to remind himself that this was not that world something he would absolutely make sure of.

"Tell me, your people believe greatly in humanity, do you believe that if humans ruled this world it would be better?"

The question seemed to throw some of them off, there was a bit of visible warming within the Theocracy members, they had been extremely cold after the vote for their former item was taken and he could understand why then Ainz Ooal Gown had lost [Atlas], they had been devastated, and the group needed time before they could work as efficiently as before, Ainz pitted them and he thought that perhaps they would do well with the lessons his world had taught him, be thought a few of their members seemed very intelligent and would relish learning of mistakes they could avoid, eventually one of them ventured to answer.

"Yes, should humans gain control, we would finally be safe and become truly prosperous, any people need to have basic needs realized before they can continue to advance, regardless of where they are, and if we humans had control we could do very well for the world, far better world than any ruled by any..thing... Else."

Ainz was surprised by the poison in those words and he only reaffirmed himself that perhaps he should take over this world, they would all sooner kill themselves over petty reasons than truly get along.

"I see, well, unfortunately, it was not!" he rebuked

"The humans of that world had a glorious past, one of advancement and discovery, of growth the likes of which you could not imagine. They built wonders which lasted thousands of years, great structures out of stone and metal which could move without magic, they revolutionized the practice of medicines and even could cure many illnesses, they could produce food at rates which eliminate hunger entirely, but this did not last. It was a system built to provide equal prosperity, but it quickly turned into one of oppression, of forceful occupation and bureaucratic greed, people took each other for granted, the very ideals placed to help the citizen succeed turn upon them, and all that followed was suffering. When it was not enough for them, they turned upon their planet, letting loose the engines of death upon their world, polluting the skies and turning the water to poison." In this world, humans had no competition, no races which could challenge them, no dragons to oppress them, no demihumans to oppose them. They ruled over everything, and yet all of that was not enough, and in the end, nothing was left save for death and destruction."

As he talked more about this world, his world, he found that his emotional suppression engaged without his ever knowing, calming down he continued:

"I ask you, does that seem like a world which is better for anyone?"

There was a slight silence, he found without that other individual, the one who was surely enjoying his time here in Nazarick, people thought before they spoke, and to answer his question the Pontifex spoke.

"This world of humans you speak of is not ours, we are different" replied the Cardinal of Water

"I question if that is inherently true Cardinal, yes this world is different, this world is young, it is vibrant and alive, there is hope here, it is not too late, but understand, your tendencies are the same as theirs, your propensity for anger and violence is quite palpable. It was greed within the great nations which caused them to fall, within the Re-Estize Kingdom it was the actions of the few in power which sought to bring complete ruin to the whole, millions suffering for the aims of some who would never know their suffering."

"That kingdom's people deserved better, their system was corrupt and ineffective, we could all see that, but it does not imply that we humans are wrong"

"Than what of the Holy Kingdom, their people were being slaughtered by the droves, demons running amok, eating mother and child, old and young and yet the nobles of the south sat comfortably in their safe homes, their countrymen and peers dying as they slowly amassed some form of resistance, by the time they arrived the fighting was already done, is this complacency not the same, as well you speak as to the inefficiency they held but is your system not similar, without capable members, it will easy descend into chaos and corruption."

"We ensure that only those worthy can hold a seat among us," one of the Cardinals responded almost too quickly, sensing the opportunity, Ainz decided to be a dick and respond,

"Than how would you explain your other member, the one who attacked me?"

There was no response had at the words, and some of the delegations seemed angry at being reminded of the event, Ainz decided to continue with his prior point,

"Queen Draduillon, your people even now are suffering, dying by the thousands because of a more powerful nation, would you say they see you as fellow beings, as equals?"

The queen spoke: "No, absolutely not, the Beastmen consider us nothing more than food"

"It is because they are demi-humans, should we have power, more control, we could protect ourselves, survive, thrive and that is how it should be." responded the Cardinal of Darkness

"It is that mentality which brings suffering to life, that line of thinking which makes others nothing more than obstacles to be toppled. Pawns to be moved or even worse slaves to be bought and sold like livestock, the demihumans see you as food because they are more powerful, because they are strong, they can designate your place,"

Ainz looked at the Argland Dragonlords

"Your people ruled the world because they were more powerful, in that time, did you care for what was beneath you, even now, do you consider equal the myriad of other living beings within this world?"

The questions seemed to catch them by surprise, but the Worm Dragonlord responded before the others.

"No, our pride would not allow it"

He seemed to elaborate, and silence allowed him the time to think,

"Our people did rule the world, before the dawn of the Kings, and their massacre. In the Age of Dragons, we were beyond reason, we were forces of nature, unruly and unbound, doing and taking what we wish without regard. When this all came crashing down and out people nearly forced to extinction, much changed, I lost a great deal in the war with the Kings, more than simply my arm, we all did, but many of us decided to hide away from the world, to retain our pride as true dragonlords by believing we were above it all."

Ainz thanked him in his heart for his words, using the momentum he chose to drive home his vision,

"It is strength, power which allows one to place themselves above others, the Beastmen see you as less because they are more powerful, the dragons of old believed themselves to be more because they too were more powerful, and so too do you all now,"

he said looking at the Theocracy:

"Believing the world will be better when humans rule is not a change in the system, it is a continuation, one which leads to the same ruin. The purpose of the mighty is not always to rule, at times it is one's ability to look beyond their power to what avenue will bring peace that marks true might. In the conflict resultant of Jaldabaoth's rise, the entirety of the Holy Kingdom saw what it is when power is let run rampant, should I have wanted to, I could have already easily done something similar, dominated this world and impressed my strength upon all of you, and there would have been nothing to do about it"

As Ainz was speaking this his anxious mind had allowed his [Dispar Aura] to increase, the slight outline of a black halo beginning to appear around his form and with the Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown equipped his presence made the entire room feel heavy, unbeknownst to him every single other creature in that room felt as if gravity was bearing down upon them, the weight of his unrestrained power bringing home his point that they would all be nothing but ants raging against a storm.

The guardians within the room all had felt this power before, it was the absolute might of their master manifest itself, they all thought this as shivers running across their bodies,

"So.. so why haven't you, or is the all part of the process, part of your plan?" the words crawled slowly out of the mouth of the Blue SKy Dragonlord, his hesitation and soft voice making him appear as small,

Ainz laughed at the comment

"No, not at all, should I do this than I too would fall within the same cycle, becoming nothing more than an oppressor, another demon to stain this world like those who came before me, and it would make me nothing better than a hypocrite"

"Than what are you here to do, what is your purpose?"

"It is the same as before, I wish to create something peaceful, that will last, a great thinker of my time once believed that the greatest threat to those living, is the fact they are alive."

The words clearly made some members of the room scared, believing that he was implying he would turn them all into the undead, a fat many thought was worse than death, fearing he would lose his audience Ainz quickly continued,

"Allow me to explain; to live is to struggle, against nature, against others, even against the gods,... ultimately to live is to struggle against death. To realise your own finality, and conceptualize a time when you will no longer exist, many see this as a reason to impress themselves upon others, if life is so final, than seek as much as you can while you are here. Those with wealth acquire more even at the expense of those without, those with power exercise it at times without restraint at the expense of the weak, this is not to say all are like this, look at the legendary Blue Roses, their reputation of fighting for those who cannot fight for themselves truly brings awe to even one such as I. Yet they are the exception, not the standard, to that I ask why?"

The Roses puckered up when called upon, the women brimming with pride at the compliment, Ainz continued,

"Life is too short for such struggles is it not, your existence fleeting from one moment to the next, so why to spend it in such haste, in such torment and violence, to harm and claw and drive others into desperation for your own gain. It is true life can be the very detriment to the idea of living, but it can also be the drive for existing, life is special because everything is more beautiful when you are domed, the whole world more vibrant when you know it will not last. I ask you if the stars only shone once every one thousand years, would it not be a spectacular endeavour. Would not the whole world stop and appreciate that glorious sight, If we can recognize this why then why can we not coexist. why should we not sue for peace, embrace our mortality and do the best we all can while we are here? If you wish to know from my eyes, all the differences which make demihumans and humanoid, are superficial, things which can easily be resolved with proper dialogue and honest intentions extended, and I believe my city and its myriad of wonderful citizens prove just that, so why not live in peace?"

He left the question to linger in the air, he could tell some people were considering it, others it seemed were already convinced and others still looked apathetic, namely the Elf King, Ainz reasoned he just didn't really care too much about peace

'So why did he come,... oh well I'll think on that later'

He took time to look at his handy work, the contemplation seemed to continue for quite a few minutes, the Dragon Queen asked,

"What is your place in this your Majesty?"

He thought for a moment, while it was true he wanted to bring peace, he did think too hard about what they would see him as, and while he knew many of his guardians would think he was playing everyone here for the fool, he wished to see this as an opportunity to actually bring a true peace to this world, to bring back the days of old, it was then an idea came to him, and as he spoke, he pieced together the thought,

"I wish to facilitate this change, I wish to help transition this world into what it can become, to ensure no such fate happens here where good people, regardless of race and background are not unjustly thrown to the wayside,"

"Is your goal not too idealistic and lofty?" the question seemed to come out of nowhere,

"Not at all, I believe this should be what we strive for as leaders, as those entrusted with the fate of our people, it is within our power to do so. In a previous world, there was an organization, a coalition of nations, a gathering of representatives where they would speak on issues and present matters which merit concern. This assembly would debate and vote on issues like slavery, and the fair treatment of citizens, they would hold each other accountable and ensure a general people was upheld by vowing to protect each other and to resolve any conflicts with debate and words than through violence, I wish to recreate this here, I wish to build an example for many generations to come, that unity will bring more than disharmony, that together we are all for the better."

"What will this organization be called sire? Asked Jircniv awed

"The name can be decided upon a vote, but my recommendation would the Union of Nations, or U.N. for short"

The leaders seemed to feel out the words, many coming out with pleasant expressions, seemingly enjoying this idea very much,

"And would vessels be allowed to participate in this organization?" the Dragon Queen asked

"Of course, the Sorcerous Kingdom would bring delegations from each of its vessel regions, to properly represent those nations."

"Than your Majesty, Sorcerer King Ainz Ooal Gown, I, Queen Draudillon Oriculus of the Dragon Kingdom, wish to extend a formal request for visualization into the Sorcerous Kingdom…"

The shocking revelation of Queen Draudillon's interest in becoming a vassal of the Sorcerous Kingdom came as absolutely no surprise to Jircniv, he had long suspected and just confirmed her interest and it seems that they would soon share not only a border but a master as well. He found some comfort in that her people would be safe from now on but he also now had to suffer her more on a regular basis, something he would have to strongly consider later.

The rest of the meeting went by in a rather simple matter, after the myriad of revelations concerning the viewpoint of the Sorcerer King and his long aim into the future, Jircniv found speaking about trade agreements and simple terms of mutual interest to be quite refreshing, he found this closer to the domain of his own mental facilities. He would, however, take much time to contemplate the ideas presented by his Majesty, and think on them critically, he understood quite well the idea of creating a union of nations for the interests inherent to those in the region and he saw how this would isolate those who might not agree or would be hostile to a pace between all the races.

Jircniv had felt a bit more satisfaction than he should have when Dominic's attempt had failed, he was overtly joyous when he saw the dreadful look on his face as he was carted away into the black void of the portal by the little girl, Shalltear, and he had kept an eye on the members of the Theocracy to gauge how they would take this information, and his suspicions were struck. He saw how they seemed to hide themselves, glaring at his Majesty and the rest of them, he knew they would try to retaliate, though he did not imagine they would be stupid enough to sue for war when they had just been privy to the awe-inspiring power held by not only the Sorcerer King but his guard as well.

'Only an idiot would try to fight after seeing something like that'

Jircniv could than see that should such a potentiality come true, it would be to his best interests to claim some of the freed-up land, or ask to be given some of the more fertile lands in order to build more cities. When his master had spoken to them on the benefits of the highway, he had indeed nodded and could confirm the increased efficiency such a system brought, his own towns were quickly growing and his people prosperous because of it, he was very pleased with the results, and imagined that once the Dragon Kingdom was integrated, they too would quickly begin work on implementing some of the radicle ideas of his master.

The rest of the days meeting went without much of a hitch, the vassalisation proof the Dragon Kingdom would be handled at a later time and time was indeed taking its toll on them all, at least the humans within the group, thus when his master called for the meeting to be halted until proper rest relaxation and sleep could be had, no one had issue with the idea.

"Won't you all be guests within my home?"

The question was met with generally positive reactions, the Dragon Queen, himself and Renner, graciously accepted, and the High Council of Argland did after slight hesitation also accept, interestingly not only the Theocracy council but also the Elf King chose not to enjoy the hospitality of this place and rather asked to be teleported back to E-Rantel, where they would stay the night and return the next day for its events, something he found was extremely odd considering this realm they were in was equivalent to a heaven in and of itself.

After some talking the returning members entered the gate spell as he was told and returned to the city, the remaining group looked to the Sorcerer King, and one of the dragonlords asked,

"Where will we be staying your Majesty?"

"We will be going to the guest rooms, I will ensure each of you as well as your guards and retinue receive proper accommodations, but there is a myriad of facilities within this floor, there are private and open baths, many with different effects and amenities. There are Spa's, hot springs, and lounge bars as well."

"What is this Spa you speak of?"

"I presume it would not be something native here, a spa is a facility catered towards relaxation, an individual would enjoy several different treatments as they are known, which focus on releasing tension, stress and healing and beautifying the body, there are some for all different types of bodies, should you decide to remain in your humanoid forms or take on your dragon forms it makes no difference, as well the hot springs have varying types as well, from cold to warm to some which shock the body with low volts of electricity to relax your muscles."

The explanation was wondrous, and Jicniv considered if this was something similar to the Jacuzzi, which he had tried when they had arrived in E-Rantel, something he would most definitely seek to try.

After he had relayed instructions to the butler a collection of the unimaginably beautiful maids entered the room and they began to split between the groups in order to take them to their rooms, as they all began to filter out of the massive conference hall Jircniv thought forward to what wonders would await him in this godly domain.


	15. Chapter 15

**AN: Hey everyone, so I am reuploading the previous chapter, 14, after making some edits and changes, give it a look, and thank you again to everyone for the insight and suggestions, keep them coming :)**

**Chapter 15**

Draudillon was finding it very difficult currently to keep her mind straight, but she did indeed have so much to think about, and she needed to pay attention and strategize for everything to work out smoothly,

"Mmmmm" a soft moan left her lips

'_Damn it!, think damn you, I knew this was a bad idea'_

While she tried to reprimand herself, she knew the thought had no bite, she was in pure heaven right now, and nothing could so much as lessen that.

There was a very clear and present discussion she would need to have with Aluter, they needed to properly make their request for Vassalization, but she needed to be careful in what terms she thought about having with the Sorcerous Kingdom, while she found that there was almost no downsides form her investigations of the Re-Estize and Baharuth, she did not know what or how much they gave up to become vassals.

'_But are we really in the place to refuse anything?..'_

"Ooohhhhh" she moaned again

'_This was a terrible idea, I should not be enjoying myself like this, THINK DAMN IT!'_

When they had adjourned the meeting for the day Draudillon and her fellowship were lead into one of the guest houses present in the Great Tomb of Nazarick, and to call it a house in any respect was an insult to its very presence. They had been given an option on what sort of environment they wanted to stay in, a question which she did not believe would even really be asked until they had decided on a more modern feel, as she enjoyed the clean look of straight lines.

What they had been given was beyond imagination, they were led to a gated compound with an absolutely massive central mansion and four smaller estates surrounding it, running from the entrance of the gates to the beginning of the main house was a long narrow body of water, called a fish pond, it hosted a variety of fish she had never seen in colours she had never imagined.

When she inquired about the fish, she was told they were koi fish, a type of fish favoured by the creator of this place, one of these Supreme Beings which comprised the group to which Ainz Ooal Gown was the leader, she had felt pure amazement well up as she stared out at the sight, the grass cut short and gave the impression it was moulded out of pure emerald, there was trees with small pink petals which seemed to dance on the wind as they fell, and ornate statues decorating the opening to this heaven.

As they entered the main building, where she and a few of her attendants would stay she again could not believe her eyes, within the room were high vaulted ceilings, glowing with internal light that did not seem powered by magic, the chandeliers which descended a short distance down had pure white crystals which reflected the light and allowed it to dance in an array of colours before them, the main living area was surrounded by massive pillars which interned were encircled in ornate golden spirals, and further decorated with translucent cloth which felt soft to the touch, something known as silk.

When they had gone to further explore this fantasy home, they found that every part of this place was beyond words, beyond comprehension, there were large ergonomic sculptures of ovals and other shapes made of gold and stone, some made of silver and diamonds, so rich was this place that she found herself completely overwhelmed by the notions it was simply just one of a myriad of guest houses, when she had asked her guiding maid about this, she simply replied that this was even one of the smaller locations, a thought which she could not contain within herself.

Draudillon had gone to spend time in this Spa to allow herself to relax in preparation for the talks, and found that it too was beyond expectation, the building was open to the sky, providing a beautiful view of the stars, the temperature of the air within was precisely perfect for her body, when she asked about this, she was told that it was the result of magic beyond her comprehension, an eternal magic which would always produce the most ideal conditions for its guests. Draudillon knew the costs of magic, tier or otherwise and she knew that it would take a something beyond reality to power a spell forever, but she could not think of that now.

She had been led to a shallow soaking tub where the first treatment was called a facial, where a paste was applied to her face and body, while she had accepted the paste she was surprised to learn it was made of fine precious rocks and metals and would reinforce her body to make it stronger and more beautiful, something she was very happy to let happen. After the soaking they had taken her to a long table with some form of padding and she was currently getting a full body Swedish massage, whatever that was, all she knew was that the creature which was handling her, a woman with multiple arms, was apparently created explicitly to give these massages, and as she worked her hands all over Draudillon's petite form, she found herself being in complete bliss, feeling stress melt away from her.

When she could no longer think coherently due to the pleasure she allowed she self to drift away and reasoned to think on all this trouble another time.

* * *

Renner was sitting with Climb, her brother and the members of Blue Rose, talking about the wonderland they had entered, when the maid had asked them what sort of place they wished to stay at, they each looked confused, and reasoned any place would due. When they had been led to a palace surrounded by tropical trees and greenery it seemed as if they had stepped again into another world.

Renner could not believe this sort of wealth as possible by any mortal standard, but as they sat in the bar enjoying their drinks they found conversation was light and lively, the members of blue Rose seemed to have taken a liking to this place, their demeanour and manners being so relaxed Renner was taken aback by it, they all seemed,.. Even closer, something she did not think was possible.

'_I wonder if this was the result of their meeting with his Majesty?'_

Renner was currently sipping on something known as a Daiquiri, the drink was heavenly it was made with a strawberry base and balanced with strong alcohol with none of the normal taste, it was absolutely wonderful, even for all the ones she had tasted so far, and it seemed everyone was enjoying the pleasant atmosphere, there were heteromorphs and demihumans aplenty, they all sat and talked and these denizens seemed to pay them no mind,

"I see we all had similar thinking"

The voice came from behind her, and she turned to find the Emperor of Baharuth, his wife, and one of his personal knights making their way towards their table, as pleasantries were exchanged, they took a seat among them.

"This place is beyond imagination is it not?" asked Zanec greeting the monarch,

"it is indeed, may I ask what sort of area you were given?" replied the Emperor returning the greeting,

"Ours is a forest retreat of sorts a magnificent palace nonetheless, and what of your group Emperor?"

"Ours is a vast palace overlooking a hill, the magic inherent in this tomb is beyond conception, there is a forest beyond that hill, stretching for what seems like miles, how all of this fits here is truly awe-inspiring"

They went on to discuss more on the manner of food, the creatures which roamed the domain, and even the maids which serviced the area as they spoke another clear and definite voice could be head, the group turned to find someone they would be seeing more of, the queen of the Dragon Kingdom.

Renner didn't have a full impression on the Dragon Queen, she had her spies report some on the condition and situation surrounding the woman and knew of course of her actual age and body but she did not know specifics, and it was something which displeased her, she needed information in order to be best effective, and as she pondered the queen came to them.

"A pleasant meeting to you all,"

"As well, welcome Queen Draudillon, how goes your stay in this place?"

"it is absolutely wondrous, I would have never thought in my life I could experience luxury such as this, I didn't even know luxury such as this could even exist, "

The comment had great reception

"it is indeed something to bewilder the mind, truly the realm of a god would you not say?"

The question left something of an introspective silence among the group, and as they pondered, Lakyus spoke for her team,

"I think we will retire, for the time being, the girls and I want to see what is Spa place is and have a greater look around,"

"you absolutely should, I was there earlier and I already feel years younger,"

it was a strange comment considering she looked no older than a child, but one that was received with varying degrees of warmth, some who did not know much of her believing she was playing on her words.

"Indeed, perhaps I could ask for a private audience with her highness, the prime minister and the king?"

Renner raised an internal eyebrow at the Bloody Emperor, it seemed he was intending to gauge the queen's intentions and motivation, or perhaps more than that,

"I would be honoured to sit among such a delegation," replied Renner kindly.

there was a general agreement as the group's respective members began to leave to allow for the monarchs time to speak, and once everyone was else was gone or generally elsewhere, the queen spoke first.

"I can assume this is likely for me?"

nodding at her the Emperor replied: 'indeed, considering your declaration earlier I wished to speak to you concerning why you are interested in becoming a vassal,"

Renner knew it was a false reply, they both had known something like this would occur, it only made sense considering how much a dire situation her people were in and she could not handle the Beastmen by herself, much less win, but she kept herself quiet and listened.

"I believe it to be the best course for me people, I had come here because of the favour his Majesty had done, providing us with some much-needed breathing room, but the more of,.. all of this I see, the more I am convinced it is the right course of action."

'I see, from what I have learned you are a dragon's descendant, why do you not simply ask your line for aid, surely the Brightness Dragonlord could have made a large difference in the conflict?"

Zanec's words seemed reasonable but Renner guessed he had not thought too much on the matter or listened greatly during the summit itself, another reason she was happy that she held power in their nations, should he have been left to truly rule, she wondered how much might have gone wrong. she met eyes with Emperor Jircniv, and saw in him the same conclusion, that he had already deduced the answer long before and found the question notwithstanding.

"I believe the old Worm spoke earlier on the pride of the dragons, it is true that I am dragonborn but my great grandfather is very reclusive, he rarely cares for any matters which involve the world, he travels often and is quite hard to find, as well, I doubt he would have much interest in intervening on our behalf,"

There was a bit of sadness in her voice, it was clear she had already sought out his aid, clearly to no fruitful conclusion.

"Your nation was founded by him correct, do you believe he would allow you to become vassals of the Sorcerous Kingdom?" Zanec continued

"I am not too sure it would matter, as queen I have a duty to protect and provide for my nation, that responsibility means doing everything in my power to ensure the best possible outcome for my people and their future, and I firmly believe now that vassalization is the best route available to me now."

before he could continue with the useless questions Renner decided to interject,

"Brother, perhaps I could speak with them,... alone?"

the intent was clear, and he understood immediately, it was time for the actual leaders to speak, he minded himself before bowing and taking his leave, the queen seemed interested in the exchange and before she could reason to ask Renner decided to explain quickly.

"His Majesty trusts me with a great many things, and allows me to essentially rule the kingdom, my brother is not dim, but he has issue seeing the bigger picture."

"I have heard about you, Golden Renner, they say you are extremely beautiful, but in my more,.. hidden circles, they say you are cunning beyond reason, how is it you came to your position?"

"It was the terms given by his Majesty when he took our nation as his vassal, he required I be made prime minister and funnelled to me all respective powers while my brother was allowed to keep the crown, he enjoys the status I can tell, but he would make for an average ruler."

"That is quite the turnaround, was this something you wished for?"

"No, I had not thought of the course and when it occurred I was pleasantly surprised, I had the intention to speak into my brother's ear to influence matters discreetly, but when his Majesty gave me this position and the power it holds, he masterfully bypassed all that, he truly is a godly intellect,"

"I believe even that to be an underestimation of his true capabilities, truly one cannot simply seek to know all that his Majesty is, his knowledge is vast, his wisdom is vast, his patience seems infinite and things seems to play exactly to his plans,"

Jircniv's words resonated with her, and he, in turn, nodded her head in approval.

"Is he really that smart?" the queen asked,

"More than you would think, much more,"

"really?"

A surprised look came to her, and both Renner and Jircniv had condescending smiles as they took pleasure in the education of their soon to be fellow, Jircniv replied to her, he calming took his drink and began to explain

"Take for instance the Slane Theocracy,"

the mention of that name brought anticipation to the seated group,

"They arrived here believing themselves to be above everyone, their blind arrogance was surely squashed when they had been led through the throne room, his Majesty carefully picked apart every thought of superiority and impressed upon them the divinity of his realm, surely that would force sides, those with reason such as Raymond and Ginedine might see this as an opportunity to make peace and good relations with a clear superior, while the more radical,,... well we all saw what became of Dominic, and now there are only 5 Cardinals, with no blame placed upon his Majesty."

The dragon queen smiled lightly and shock her head, she was clearly impressed and had no words, she looked up, he eyes surveying their surroundings before she spoke.

"I had indeed been very surprised when we arrived here, this entire place seems created out of fantasy itself,"

"It was created"

"Pardon?"

"I had asked once when I was waiting for an audience with his Majesty about his abode, and his servants informed me that everything here, all of this, each and every aspect of this divine realm, was created, out of nothing, by Ainz Ooal Gown and his fellow Supreme Beings,"

This was news to Renner, and she was actually extremely surprised,

"He made all this, and I have heard that phrase before, who are these Supreme Brings?"

"The elf girl, Aura, told me that the majority of the servants and all the guardians were creations of these Supreme Beings, friends of his Majesty, but supposedly they are no longer here, choosing to move on to other worlds, and his Majesty deciding to remain."

"That's impossible, those creatures were beyond power and reason, you mean to tell me that the butler who could fight on par with four dragonlords, was created,... what of his creator, how much power do they have?"

"I do not know, but it reminds me each day to enjoy that I had not been foolish enough to resist fate, or tried to get in his way,"

Draudillon was baffled, and truly Renner was equally as surprised, she again had to increase her placement for the Sorcerer King, an action she did not believe possible,

'_Perhaps believing I could categorize him at all was my first folly, truly such a being cannot be contained'_

As the shock came and passed Jircniv continued,

"So you see, I believe his Majesty had intended to break down the Theocracy from the very beginning, he had planned for all this, even the possibility of that powerful item that Dominic used, I think he had everything within the palm of his hands from the very beginning."

There was almost a look of sick satisfaction on the Emperor's face, and Renner could tell he was enjoying watching this masterful display of complete manipulation from the outside looking in, seemingly very glad it was not he who was the subject of his Majesty's intellect.

The queen, on the other hand, seemed to be thinking hard, and Rener could well what her next question would be,

"Could he be manipulating me as well?"

"I don't believe it to have been necessary, I'm sure he wished to impress upon you the benefits on joining him, but I also believe you would be smart enough to understand the dangers associated if you do not. Even I had concluded that becoming a vassal was your best option, and I believe you show good leadership is choosing that option."

The words seemed encouraging, and Renner was a bit impressed by Jircniv's seemed to care for the Dragon Kingdom,

"Is the Sorcerer King fair with his terms?"

the question left them both to look at each other and take time to reflect, Renner spoke first,

"As the newest addition I can speak to his Majesty being very fair, we gained much, and the changes he implemented were revolutionary, he fixed in mere days issues which had been plaguing the Kingdom for generations, and we retained much of our independence and freedom, his only true change being the criminal justice reform and his placement as absolute sovereign above the king."

"Indeed, similar changes were done to my empire, though we did not require such extensive renovation, the Sorcerer King hardly changed anything at all, we simply pay a small tax for the loaning of his labour, changes to our criminal system and his being my master, and honestly I've been greatly happy about it, dealing with the court nobles has dramatically become easier, and my position has emperor is almost absolute, if I continue to perform well, never will i have to worry about the next generation."

the queen was taking their words and studying them she clearly had been pensive about what was to come, and it seemed they were placing her at ease,

"What of his reforms, I had heard you both back greatly that highway project of his, and what of the undead loans you speak of?"

"we indeed have great support for the project, I believe in his vision of the future, and I believe in his words of peace and prosperity, I have seen it, experienced what wonders can be made by following him"

Renner agreed wholeheartedly with the statement and added her own experience,

"Absolutely, his Majesty seems to care a lot of people, of all races, and his undead labour force has made the recovery and expansion of the Kingdom exponential, soon we will be able to concentrate on education and further development, we have the intention to begin building universities as the Empire has soon, once we have fully stabilized, but it cannot be stated enough how revolutionary everything offered by his Majesty is,"

the words of praise seemed to never end and the trio continued to discuss the merits and wonders of being vassals to this great and divine being, they lost time as it was nothing, they enjoyed the drinks and food and let worry slip away from them in the Great Tomb of Nazarick.

* * *

_\- E-Rantel_

There was a hushed silence within the room that the Cardinals had chosen as their base of operations,

they had intended to perform their normal ritual of cleaning to ensure they humble themselves before the gods, but recent events had placed such a thing on hold, they could not so much as speak to what they saw, and the dread with came out of recent events was evident in all their faces,

they had reconvened and spoken very briefly, choosing to postpone a full meeting until after they received even a little rest, and once that had been done they sat together again and discuss.

Yvon had been very pensive throughout the night and had asked for extra guards to ensure his safety, it seemed he was worried and no one could blame him,

"What are we going to do?"

"What do you mean what are we going to do, we need to amass the military, gather our forces and march into that god-damned place and retrieve our nation's treasure!"

Berenice had been enraged by the events which had occurred, she had always been passionate but understanding and everyone here was very well aware that acting without thinking would result in tragedy. It was true Dominic had acted completely without merit but the stealing of [Downfall of castle and Country] was something which could not be overlooked.

"What can we do to that creature's guards, you all saw that butler, or whatever it is, do you think even the god-kin could fight that and win?"

Raymond's voice of reason was met with more resistance than he thought, they seemed to want war, everyone here was angry, and even Ginedine he could see was letting his faith cloud his reason.

'_This is bad'_

Yvon for his part seemed to want full out war, and Maximilian was right behind him, Raymond could understand their anger, he had felt rather angry himself but quickly realized how foolish the very thought was, if everything that they had learned was true then what they are facing was a being who could at the very least match the strength of their gods, and if he was believed, could crush even them, the situation was dangerous.

"If we decide to fight what can we do exactly, what sort of resistance can we muster, and to what end? I would not risk the Theocracy because of our own arrogance"

Raymond hoped that would at the very least set some of the most reasonable minds towards the right path, but to his surprise, it was Berenice who rebuked him,

"Do not defend this Raymond, it is our duty to protect and field resistance for humanity, we must be there to combat this threat, we must recollect the gifts given to us, we must be willing to stand and fight"

"Our ultimate weapon did not even phase him, he was controlled, what do we do then?" he asked

"We find some other means of fighting," said Yvon, a slightly crazed look as he continued,

"You all saw how he did not allow the angel to attack him, he must be very weak to holy magic, its the only answer, if we all used our crystals surely we could defeat him, we could do it."

he seemed almost desperate, frantic in trying to convince them,

"and if we fail, what then?"

silence...

"We must be diligent, we have to plan, to find something which can be of use to us, this Sorcerer King is indeed powerful but even the mighty can fall, ... " his mentor paused to think: "what do you all make of the report?"

There had been word from the Windflower Scripture that something big was happening towards the east in the Beastmen Country, and when they had Thousand Miles Astrologer survey the situation, they found the Beastmen had marshalled a force the likes of which they had never seen.

"how many did she say there were?"

"Over four hundred thousand at least, it seems they are serious, gravely serious" replied Raymond,

When he had learned of the force, he quickly made to inform the others, this form of threat was beyond their capability, the Beastmen were powerful, with only a few thousand being a threat to the entire Dragon Kingdom, should this amassed force travel beyond the borders of the Dragon Kingdom they would ravage all human nations, this was a threat they needed to deal with, together.

"We should inform the Dragon Queen," he again tried to reason for the best,

"Why should we do that, let her suffer, for allying with the undead" Yvons rebuke was harsh,

"Millions will die, and who is to say they will stop at just the Dragon Kingdom, what would we do if they continued west and came into the Theocracy?"

The group sat still for a few moments,

"Perhaps we can seek an alliance," spoke the Pontifex

'_WHAT?!'_

"With the Beastmen? impossible, they would sooner skin us all and wear us as decorations than seek to ally themselves with us,"

"If the Dragon Queen becomes a Vassal, we will be surrounded by the Sorcerous Kingdom, perhaps we should allow the Beastmen to destroy it, at the very least to deny that undead another foothold," said Ginedine, Raymond was surprised by his mentor's words but could see the merit in them

"What if we did make an alliance," said Berenice

"It's impossible, the Beastmen would never hear us out"

"Not with the Beastmen general, no…" she seemed to be thinking of something, and from the look on her face, he knew it would not be anything but sinister.

The Cardinal of Fire wore well her epithet, she was kind and motherly when she needed to be, and a raging inferno when it was required,

"We will allow the Beastmen to ravage the Dragon Kingdom, let the heretics burn for turning away from the six, the undead will most likely respond by sending aid, should he allow a new vassal state to be destroyed it would weaken his position as a vassal lord, and when he is preoccupied, we will strike,..."

The plan had merit, but he did to find comfort in other facets of it, what sort of force could they muster to strike while the Sorcerer King was away, would they even be able to access his domain to steal the treasure back, and what will they do in case this goes wrong?

"Are you suggesting we enter his home and steal back the treasure, how ill we find it, how will we access the damn place, there are too many flaws with this and who will we ally with, there is no one available who can help us, and the other human nations at the centre of the continent do not mind themselves with us," Ginedine responded, questioning her,

"We won't have to fight the Sorcerer King, nor will we need to enter his home, no, we will hold his nation hostage, you all heard him at the summit, his grand visions and speech, he seems to place great importance upon his people, should we hold E-Rantel, the seat of his power, he will have to bend to our will, this Beastman threat will give us the perfect distraction to act en-force and gain the upper hand. As for our ally, yes we are short on options, which is why I must ask everyone,"

There was a pause as they all readied for this potential ally

" … how did you all find the Elf King?"


	16. Chapter 16

**AN: Really excited for the next couple of chapter, I'll try my best to get them out as quickly as possible but generations are not fun for stable work hours. Thank you, everyone, for the support and please continue to review**

**Chapter 16**

"Have you lost your mind?!"

Surprisingly someone else had gotten the words out before Raymond could do so himself, feeling a bit cheated but no matter, there was more pressing matters now.

"I know, I know, but right now, we need allies, and we don't have the luxury to pick and choose" replied the Cardinal of Fire,

"Regardless of all that, are you forgetting up until very recently we have waged war with the Elf Kingdom, and for _VERY_ good reason" the Pontifex spoke angrily at the notion

"And I don't believe Zesshi would stay silent about this" spoke Raymond

He knew her well, her moods and temperament, he knew she had a deep seeded hatred of her father, the idea of making an alliance with him would infuriate her, another problem they should not add to their plate. Raymond wanted to speak about practical matters, things they could actually do to try and relieve this situation, to get something to bring back from this Summit, but the group was slowly starting to be swayed, they were even entertaining the idea of becoming allies with their very enemies.

He had many issues with this plan already, taking over the city was going to be much more difficult than any of them led on, the logistics of trying to manoeuvre every obstacle alone was a headache and what would they do afterwards, could they even really hold this place hostage and get what they want. Would the Sorcerer King even allow it, and what of his guards, this idea was a deathbed for the Theocracy, and they all seemed a little too happy to walk into it.

'_This isn't faith, this isn't even reasonable'_

The group had seemingly agreed now, the Grand Marshal was speaking about how many forces they might be able to muster, the Cardinal of Fire spurring them on with riveting ideals of victory and glorious redemption for the humiliation they had suffered. Yvon was much more enthusiastic as he must have felt they were seeing things his way now, and that giddy attitude was dangerous.

_'__This is bad, this is very very bad'_

Raymond had love for his nation, his many years of service to the Theocracy and the greater goal of human safety were his driving factors. The fact he had been blessed with the power to not only resist but help in defending his country was his greatest pride, he dove into whatever he needed to ensure the people were safe, he would venture into any danger to save even one more of his countrymen, but what of these,.. people now?

This was not for the greater good of the Theocracy, this was suicide, planned and excitedly executed, and he was terrified, scared in his very bones because he knew, if they spoke of resistance to the Sorcerer King, to this union of nations, that he wished to create, the people in the Theocracy would follow, they would rally, cheer, and herald their leaders as faithful and just,

they would indeed cheer,

All the way to the grave.

'_is this some form of travelling madness, why are they so bent on this now?'_

Raymond had of course been distraught at the loss of [Downfall of Castle and Country] but he also knew that recklessness was the domain of fools, by having that item brought out into the light that had made themselves a target, its greatest power was the fact no one knew it existed, but now even if they retrieved it, suspicion could always be raised against them. he did not believe himself to be heretical, his love and devotion to the gods was absolute, but he also knew the gods would value their people more than simple materials and weapons. while he was afraid to voice this opinion, he did want to at least try to calm the situation, if not prolong it until after this summit, it was dangerous to try something after what happened with Dominic, they must have known that too right?...

"Perhaps we should think more on this"

Raymond's words were met with sneers, Maximillian was openly peering at him,

"There is no time to think any more Raymond, we have discussed for years, this humiliation must not stand, this is justice for the gods"

the Cardinal's words felt cold to him, there was no devotion in them, only anger, pure hatred

'_They are starting to sound like Dominic'_

But he needed to try and make them see reason, they needed to see why this was not going to work, they needed to regroup and rethink their strategy wait their turn and be patient,

"Raymond, you have always had a critical mind, but do not allow that to stop you from seeing evil as evil, we must plan, this is true, but we must also act, we must be willing to take risk and uphold our faith, it is what is demanded of us, of _ALL_ of us, you would not question the faith would you?"

His mentor's rebuke was calculated, there was no warmth in it, nothing which suggests that he came to reason anymore, with Ginedine lost to his cause, Raymond was truly alone, and his mind grasped that notion immediately,

"Of course not, … Forgive me, I was just worried,... you are right,.. it is time to act"

Raymond had made his choice, and as he worked what he might be able to do in this situation, he believed he had the workings of a plan, but for now, he needed to play his part.

"Excellent, we are all in agreement then, now, send a messenger to bring the Elf King here, we would have words with him"

* * *

Rivonia was many things, she wore many hats in the Kingdom, and in service to the King, many of which were simple, some she even enjoyed, and other she dreaded. tonight she was playing the role of a loyal soldier, she had been stationed guard outside his Majesty's room, and expected nothing of it.

The Elf King had been very particular of whom he would bring to this summit and had reasoned that because hostilities were halted between them and the Theocracy, he could be more focused in his birthing of children, he had even taken to striking them himself, seeing if even one could withstand his might, they couldn't and that fear kept them and their mothers in line.

She had been interrupted in her duties by a messenger from the Theocracy, apparently, they wished to meet with the King, and wanted to meet now,

She didn't like the position she was in, she knew the king hated being told anything, he took no pleasure in being summoned, it was surprising to them all that he had chosen to even attend this summit, and when he and left for the palace they had taken to discussing why he came and reasoned he was either bored and wished to leave the Elf Kingdom, or he had more, obvious intentions.

It was with a heavy heart that Rivonia walked towards the chamber room, she had already began hearing the heavy breathing and pants coming from the room which indicated to her everything she needed to know, most elf women were well associated with his Majesty's vigour, she and her two sisters were members of his harem as their mother had been before she had aged and lost favour and her usefulness to him.

As she came to the door she gave it a quick and light knock, praying he was too busy satisfying himself to hear the noise, and her heart seemed to be held on that hope until a very angry,

"What!?"

dashed it away and brought her back to reality,

"Y..your.. your Majesty, a message for you from the Theocracy's supreme council,"

She heard rumblings of movement, something which terrified her and held her still at the same time, she hated when she was near him, his very presence making her sick, she hated even worse when he was inside her, and had always thanked the gods she had yet to bear a child, knowing the fate which would be waiting for that child should it be born to this monster.

The door opened slowly and the imposing figure of the king took its space, she quickly knelt, not out of respect adoration or love, but some part out of disgust, and mainly out of fear, she would not survive him seeing the hatred in her face,

"Speak"

she lifted her head slightly to properly face him even a little and caught the scene which had been occurring within the chamber,

There were bodies littered everywhere, at least twenty women in total, some had barely the semblance of life as their bare chests bobbled up and down and their breasts jiggled slightly, indicating at least they were alive. some had been less fortunate, she could see the crimson liquid which marked the wake of one of his more passionate sessions and it seems he had found a few unfortunate elves and vented the frustrations of his earlier wounds on them.

No one had ever seen him bleed, many even questioned if he could, and yet when he returned he was nursing a quickly closing wound, as well as his massive ego, he had quickly taken to his chamber and called all the attending elves to him, a fate which Rivonia was happy to avoid as her position was as a guard tonight,

"The Cardinals wish to _invite_ you to a meeting with him your Majesty"

She made absolute care not to invoke anything which could be hinted as instruction, fearing his anger and retaliation upon her rather than those who actually offended him.

She quickly found her answer as his hand grasped the back of her throat, and hoisted her upwards, she began to choke, gasping for air as he lifted her higher and higher, her eyes watering as she tried her best to not resist, fearing more punishment she did not deserve.

"You tell his messenger, that if they wish an audience, they will come to me" he growled, his eyes full of lust and rage, and dropped her

Her body quickly went to shove air into her lungs, and her mind compelled her to scramble away as quickly as possible and the door slammed behind her, a shriek broke behind her as she ran to relay the demand.

* * *

Berenice was not too happy right now,

"This damn creature is testing my patience" the words fell out of Yvon's mouth quietly

"Bear with it, we are already here"

They had been refused with their initial summons and had been irate when the messenger had told them the Elf King had demanded they go to him, but considering they would be delivering terms they could not refuse and reluctantly appeared.

They had ensured to use magic to ward against any spying which could be had, and with time before they would be called to return to the palace they wished to conclude their business here and begin preparations on their side.

They were all sitting on a long round table, the elf maids moved with hesitant steps and seemed no better than untrained slaves, she cursed a little to herself before getting back to the task at hand, they had waited for some item before the Elf King finally came, his arrogance and demeanour truly making her blood boil.

The king worse extremely simple robes, they were light and open to show off his more than adequately toned body, had she been a younger woman and a heretic she might have had some reaction to his being, but no such events had crossed her mind her years, now Berenice was but a servant to the gods, tasked to rid the world of this new darkness without, and this was the less of those evils, .. for the moment.

"We have been waiting, your highness"

Maximillian's words carried snark, and were met with equal indifference and annoyance form the king,

"So you did, what do you want?"

The group seemed to take time to let their annoyance leak from them, Berenice took charge as she had proposed the idea and wish to be thorough in convincing him quickly, so they plan accordingly.

"I will be quick then, we wish to form an alliance,"

The king raised an eyebrow, an emotion finally dawning on his face, surprise, he opened his mouth to breathe before she cut him off,

"Do not waste ours or your time, you saw what manner of being the Sorcerer King is his ideas and manners, he is cunning and extremely dangerous, this is a threat, WE must face, regardless of how we feel about each other."

The king thought for a moment

'_At least he's not a simple idiot I guess, makes all those soldiers we send to the front lines worth it'_

"Suppose I even care to consider this offer of alliance, and we do decide to go against this idiotic undead, do you have a plan of action, any way of defeating him, any means to stop his retaliation should it come, any capable fighters?"

The words seemed to flow out of him, speaking to his ability to rationalize a situation and at least some manner of martial thought,

"We have something which we will sue to our advantage to gain the upper hand and hold this city ransom against the Sorcerer King, and once we have done so, we will demand our treasure back"

"And how exactly do you plan to take and hold this city, even I have to be impressed by the power walking around here"

The comment seemed jeering, he was trying to antagonize them and she could see some members were indeed getting a little angry,

"we have indeed, they're hard to miss, but we have capable forces to deal with the guards, we also have the temples on our side, they will not abandon the gods, and with them acting as our insiders we can appropriately station forces here and have them kill most of the guards before the main body comes, their power is more than enough for some like that. As well once we are established with our infiltration force, we plan to send word to the adventurer Momon of Darkness and seek his aid in protecting the people, we have an extensive dossier on the man, and he cares for this city, should we offer him the opportunity to depose the Sorcerer King and return true peace he surely would accept."

The king thought on the information and seemed to actually become more agreeable as he spoke,

"seems you've thought this out some, well what of the Sorcerer King and his minions?"

A smile bloomed on her face as the words she had been waiting to speak had arrived,

"That is where opportunity strikes, the gods have seen to provide us with a miracle, we have received word that an army from the Beastmen nation will be making its way west soon,"

the king nodded in approval, he knew well the power of the Beastmen: "How many did you scout?"

Her smile turned sinister,... "...we estimate over four hundred thousand"

His head jetted upwards and his nodding stopped, his eyes wide with surprise then realization, and finally, he too took to mimic her sinister smile,

"Fortunate indeed, and I presume they will be making their way to the Dragon Kingdom first, I heard the Sorcerer King made some showing in their nation to convince the little dragon bitch to come, seems it will come back to bite him hard."

he took an even more interesting pose and leaned in towards them,

'_we've got the bastard'_

she thought as she began to explain,

"We have a preliminary route of attack, this Beastman horde is truly a force to be reckoned with, they possess enough power to be a complete threat to all of us, and yes the Sorcerer King is powerful but even he will find it difficult to hold back so many powerful waves of enemies, and his retinue will be committed appropriately to ensure he fulfils his commitment to the Dragon Queen. We also suspect that the Argland Council State may send aid which would make this even easier."

Their Grand Marshal took over to explain the finer points

"With his forces committed elsewhere, we believe he will most likely pull even some of these Death Knights to his front lines, making the job even easier for the infiltration party, as well reports state the Empire has relaxed its military strength some since their becoming a vassal state, and the Re-Estize Army is too young to be any real threat. we will be marshalling our military, some two hundred thousand to march on E-Rantel while the undead is busy to the east, and if you join we could bolster those numbers with your own, making even more formidable the total threat, if the city falls when we arrive then the army could be a buffer for his return, after then we can bargain our demands and if the opportunity arises, kill the son of a bitch."

The Elf King again was all smiles, until he stopped and asked,

"I heard the Sorcerer King has some grand magic which he used to slaughter the humans those years ago, what of that?"

"we have very reliable information which states he is not able to cast such a spell again for a period of ten years"

The relief was visible to its face and Berenice couldn't help but laugh knowing he was worried

"Than it seems this might indeed be providence,... and I have a way to enhance this deal of ours,"

there was interest throughout the table and they perked at the possibility to make this even better.

"I propose we make a slight detour before this, I have no want to stay here and speak on idiotic ideals for peace and unions I came for one thing and one thing alone, I want the elves that undead has, as well as my child."

"Never, the elves you can have, but the child is ours, regardless of their heritage" Raymond was quick to reply to this, but the rest seemed to think more on it

'_Any god-kin is too powerful for us to hand over, much less Zesshi'_

"Then allow me to continue, I propose we continue this expansion, once this undead is handled and your precious treasure restored, we can continue on to the Argland Council States and all the Sorcerer King's vassals, you may have all nations to the East of us, and I will take the former Dragon Kingdom and Baharuth to the West, separating you from the Beastmen you hate so much, in return, I demand my child,"

'_This damn bastard'_

"The Cardinals seemed to be in thought, the Pontifex Maximus replied for them all

"This is something we will have to consider, it cannot be simply done here, but if we agree to your terms then yes, we will hand them over, though if you can hold them is your own problem"

There as sick satisfaction on the King's face, and form the corner of her eye she could see that Raymond was even more troubled,

'_That boy has always been too attached to her, she may be strong but she is only half human, we must think of the greater good'_

"Should this be concluded well, that should be no issue"

They agreed silently as they began to think about the biggest issue.

"... Regardless of all these plans we still need to know how to defeat the Sorcerer King?" Raymond asked,

"Simple, we use his weapons against him,"

The words held something of a cryptic meaning as the Elf King spoke them, and before long the question was asked to his meaning he continued,

"When the Demon Gods had come so long ago, we had weapons from that place called Yggdrasil, which were extremely powerful against them, if it is true that the Sorcerer King hails from this world then these weapons should be effective against him as well, they may be the only way to hurt him"

The logic seemed sound, though Berenice has her doubt considering the holy treasure did not seem to have an effect on him.

"What sort of weapons are these, when even our [Downfall of castle and Country] had no effect?"

"They are more practical, swords and spears and the light, and true one type of weapon may not work but should we have hundreds of them, we can isolate him and bombard him in close range" The idea had some merit, magic casters were very vulnerable to close age attacks and had little defense in the form of physicality, as well the idea that the divine treasure failed more due to outside interference made sense, that talk of world items and things which could match the power of the gods was clearly just intimidation, and he would pay for being so callous with his words and actions.

"Where are these weapons?"

"In the floating city of Eryuentiu, I have seen them, all those years ago when we ventured to defeat the Demon Gods"

Small gasps of surprise and murmurs of agreement and discussion broke out,

"Does the Platinum Dragonlord not defend that castle?"

"Indeed he does, and it's a perfect opportunity to kill another potential threat, I felt the power of your little escort earlier, and I have heard of the reputation of the Black Scripture you have, with our combined powers we can kill the Dragonlord and take all the treasure that castle has, and its riches would surely adorn us well once we are victorious."

"but you lost to her did you not?" the words were said with a smirk

The Elf King turned serious: "Are you stupid, did you really think I would allow myself to go all out?"

Raymond did not respond after that, the king continued,

"she was powerful, yes, thus myself, her, and a few of your strongest would be more than a match for the little snake that guards the castle, perhaps a few more for transport. Should we time the attack to correspond immediately with the Beastmen invasion, we can achieve both aims before the undead realizes what has occurred, and pin him into submission before we destroy it for good."

* * *

Raymond's heart was pounding harder and harder as the meeting went on,

They drafted battle plans, routes of march, resupply points, and even proposed speeches of after they'd won. All of this Raymond could no longer believe, and he tried his best to still appear engaged as they discussed how to best station the advance agents in E-Rantel before the attack,

He knew none of this felt right, none of this seemed to be for any greater good, this was not for the will of the gods, and the people were all the more oblivious of what was truly happening here. When they had spoken of dividing the remnants of the continent he had convinced himself all of this was for their own greed, they wished to get everything they could and rule it all. the Elf King acted like a soundboard, affirming and repeating all the twisted thoughts and plans which they made, it sickened him how quickly someone who had been killing their people not too long ago was suddenly so happy faced and friendly in their presence.

'_A real band of good intentions they all make'_

Despite all of this, the most heartbreaking event was the selling of Zesshi, Raymond was sure they would not see it in that light, they would refuse to consider it a betrayal of her and would justify that she could escape the clutches of the Elf King if she wanted, but betrayal was betrayal, and it was already done in his mind yet he could not come to terms with their actions.

Zesshi had always been essential to the Theocracy, her abilities and powers had protected the country for years, and her countless services to humanity could not be understated. Yet even more so than that she was one of them, a citizen through and through. They had experienced much together, she had often played a hand in some of the missions he went on as a Black Scripture member, they had fought and nearly died countless times before and each time she had saved them from near-certain death, that was a debt he would so easily forget. she was more a sister in arms to him than a simple tool of war or a chip to bargain with. She had aspirations and ambition, indeed her mannerisms were strange but through it all, she was more alive and more human than what he saw before him now, she cared and protected their home for hundreds of years and she deserved to be protected now but it was clear he was alone in that mentality.

Raymond himself had tried to interject reason within the conversation, attempted to place some form of doubt within them so they would see the errors blatant in their plans. show them that perhaps this might not work, perhaps it was better to take the path of peace. each time he was refuted and questioned on his faith and reminded this was all the will of the gods, but he knew better, he knew that the Elf King was simply bloodthirsty, he had no concept of peace and no want for it. all he wanted was to wage an eternal war, to fuck and breed and kill to his heart content, and it seemed his so-called peers were willing to give all that to him and more.

'_I need to think of a way to get us out of this, and Zesshi needs to be protected from this madness'_

Raymond knew all of this could go sideways very quickly if even a small part of this master plan of theirs went wrong, they could very quickly face extinction, the Sorcerer King seemed reasonable enough to forgive some transgressions of the past and even dealt with Dominic as an individual party but he would not take kindly to continued attempts at killing him, or worse his charges.

Raymond felt no happiness from the idea of using the lives of this cities people as hostages, he had seen that there was validity in the Sorcerer King's way of thinking, that demihumans and humans could indeed coexist if they were given a guiding hand, and not left to wander and kill each other.

'_we've done to them as much as they've done to us, and we both called it just'_

He did not know if he could completely trust the Sorcerer King, there were indeed aspects of him which bothered Raymond, he seemed almost too calm at times and spoke in such ways that it left him wondering if he was truly undead, Raymond couldn't abandon his faith, he knew of the gods and all the blessings they had given humanity, but his belief was quickly beginning to grow, but such was a thought for another time. He noted that every interaction he had with the Sorcerer King seemed well intended, he seemed to have genuine care for his people and wished the best for them, which was more than what could be said for his peers right now, they had let their madness get the better of them, and Raymond could not see anything good from the outcome.

The best possible outcome was the quick death of the Sorcerer King, and the acquisition of the lands he held, but that would disperse people, cause mass chaos and riots, what of the undead he would leave behind, they would all need to be put down. What of the minions he has, could they fight them all while trying to unify an even larger land area with more scattered peoples, as well, would they be able to conquer all the different cultures within that land and make them see their reasons? Raymond had seen people prosper here and reports made it clear everywhere the Sorcerer King's presence was felt the people benefited, and that earned him a massive following, his people loved him.

'_And there's that ever-growing religion of his in the Holy Kingdom'_

The Sorcerer King was protected by more than simply his magic, simple walls or power, he had trust and support, and it seemed they could not see that they did not want to see that. To truly end the Sorcerer King they would need to kill the already growing legacy he was building, all the people he had helped and all the good which had come from him in this world. As the thoughts continued within him, Raymond found himself feeling sad, truly sad, that the people who were trusted to guide the light of humanity, would fall to such lows, and as if struck by lightning, an epiphany.

Raymond remembered how sad the Sorcerer King had seemed as he was explaining to them of that world called Earth. The clear emotion in his words despite his features had stuck out to Raymond, he had not really taken the time to think the Sorcerer King could really feel emotions, or even understand them, yet he was clearly sad for the humans of that world, as if he had been powerless to stop them from destroying themselves, how they left others to suffer for their own ambitions and greed.

'_Is that not what is happening here?'_

'_I think this must be what he was talking about?'_

'_They are all so quick to potentially engager the lives of millions of our people'_

He seemed to understand it now, even just a little bit, and the feeling he could not shake for so long now as confirmed, he had indeed been wrong about the Sorcerer King, he had judged him so quickly for what he looked like he had not truly taken appreciation for the intellect behind it, the consideration of even how he invited them to this was gaining newfound respect from him, and indeed he made up his mind, he would not let his nation fall to ruin, as the crowd within the room hastily planned with hushed excitement their betrayal of human decency and political peace, he resolved that he would not allow this to happen.

"_I've got to find a way to speak with his Majesty'_


	17. Chapter 17

**AN: There are some references, and I pray you all catch them, Thank you again, everyone, Stay Golden**

**Chapter 17**

"Lord Ainz, Truly no one can fathom the full depths of your wisdom,"

The first words out of Demiurge's mouth were complete praise and he had not the insight to know how everything that had happened so far was beyond Ainz or how he had felt like a kid just going along for the ride.

"Demiurge, it was foolish of us to even doubt lord Ainz for a second, this situation could not have gone any better for us -fufu" Albedo's succulent voice ringed next, reaffirming the praise and deepening Ainz's confusion,

"You are indeed right Albedo, for Lord Ainz to not only expose the Theocracy but drive them into a corner and even acquire a world item!, absolutely Marvelous!"

Ainz knew that when the two started like this, he could at least glean some manner of what's going on by keeping quiet and listening, and if he needed to, the almighty 'umu' could be used but that was in case of emergancies,

"Did you see all their faces when he spoke to them about this union?!"

Everyone in the room seemed to find this idea a joke, chuckles and almost full-blown laughter rang through,

'_Hey, I was serious about that,..'_

"Oh, I almost couldn't keep myself contained when they had all spoken as if they could ever be equal to our master, the way his words won them all over, like attracting moths to a flame, truly my lord, once this all ends and you reign supreme, I will be fascinated to see all their faces again."

"Does. Lord. Ainz. Not. Intend. To. Make. This. Union. Of. Nations?" Cocytus's question was exactly what Ainz needed, and he thanked him silently in his heart, promising to bestow a reward upon him later, for whatever reason.

'_So long as he doesn't ask me to sit on him again'_

Ainz had been a little put off by how many of his servants were now interested in having him sit on them, he cursed himself every time for having sat on Shalltear to begin with, and it seems word got out in Nazarick of such a thing and they all wished for the honour.

As he was slowly demeaning himself for being such a bad boss Demiurge began to explain how he had so masterfully manipulated everyone.

"You see, Lord Ainz spoke like that to gain all of their trust, while permanently destroying the reputation of the Theocracy, it was probably why he did not want us to interfere, he placed himself in that situation and allowed that little bug to dig his own tomb. and when they all began seeing our Lord as a righteous ruler it was easy to have the hateful humans of the Theocracy become the villains, a role I say they play rather well. Hehe, truly my lord, I have gleaned but this small portion of your transcendent thoughts, but there is always so much more, oh how I wish you would free my feeble self from this torment of not knowing."

Ainz needed to act quickly before they could begin asking him to explain more of this,... plan.

"How observant Demiurge, you have so cleverly seen through this phase of my plan,"

The archdemon's face was viciously gleeful, his beaming smile display how much pride he took in those words of praise and the other guardians nodded approvingly of their peer, knowing they could rely on him to understand even a little of their master's overwhelming intellect.

"But I must be quick, before I can explain further there is urgent business I must attend to, I will be using [Perfect Unknowable] so for now, Albedo, please ensure all our guests are treated warmly, we must ensure they are forever impressed by the majesty of Nazarick, I will call for you all when I have ensured the next step."

As he stood they all fell to their knees in unison and spoke as one: "Yes my Lord"

Ainz cast a gate spell and quickly disappeared from the conference room.

* * *

_E-Rantel -_

Ainz had immediately cast [Perfect Unknowable] when he left the gate, and not a moment later, he sighed with the stress of a thousand years, his mind was a reck and he was exhausted, keeping up this almighty facade was a complete drain and after hearing that his guardians thought his preach for peace was a joke he was a little discouraged, he needed a pick me up, and some honest reviews and he knew exactly where he could get them.

Ainz had of course been interested in convincing the Slane Theocracy's Cardinals of his vision, they were the toughest customers and he needed to gauge where they were and how they saw him, thus having paid for their rooms he knew exactly where they were and as he sneakily found his way to their rooms, there was some very weak anti-divination magic but he easily passed through it undetected because of [Perfect Unknowable], when he entered the room, he found them already in a meeting.

'_Great!, maybe they're discussing the summit'_

He confidently walked towards them to eavesdrop on their talks, he just wanted some unbiased feedback and he figured they would give him the good and the bad. He hoped they would not hold the fact he took their world item from them, and also sentenced that one dick to eternal hell, but hey, they didn't need to know that part, besides he had attacked first, and that was justification for Ainz to hold him.

As he got closer he heard them finally, they seemed to be in a bit of an argument

"Do not defend this Raymond, it is our duty to protect and field resistance for humanity, we must be there to combat this threat,..."

Ainz listened as the woman, Berenice, went on about something, as the conversation went on he started to understand what was happening, and he was furious at the implications,

'_They want to kill me?! The hell for!?'_

Ainz had been extremely generous in his dealing with the Theocracy, he did not want to give them more of an excuse to curse his name, but as the members went on about how they needed to destroy his kingdom, ruin his reputation and kill the precious children of his friends, any and all manner of kindness he had for them was eroded, he had been ready to leave and take a gate back when he heard something about Beastmen.

One of them, who had kind of been defending him, Raymond he thought his name was, began talking about some report they received from something called a Windflow,

"Over four hundred thousand at least, it seems they are serious, gravely serious"

'_Damn that's actually kind of a lot,'_

Ainz was impressed by the number of Beastmen who would march on the Dragon Kingdom and as the Cardinals continued their debate, he thought to himself about the Dragon Queen's offer for vassalization, and he figured they would indeed be very grateful if he helped them with this kind of situation, but he wanted it to be a show, something to prove that joining the Union of Nations would be worth it to other nations.

Just then, something else caught his ear, the woman again who seemed to really have it in for Ainz, spoke again,

"… how did you all find the Elf King?"

The remark was not received well, with again Raymond calling into question why they would do such a thing, Ainz had started to lessen his hate for this particular Cardinal, just a bit, and he also very quickly determined that staying here would be very useful, only a fool would pass up the chance to learn about the intentions of his enemies.

Ainz was slowly pacing the room as the Cardinals waited, they had sent a messenger to the Elf King and they had yet to return, while he secretly hoped the Elf King would refuse them and decide to join the Union of Nations, he wasn't too hopeful, the Elf King had rubbed Ainz the wrong way, he was very quiet, and didn't seem to care too much about anything as well, Mare had told him how he had been staring at him in the Arena, giving him the creeps.

'_That guy's kinda weird, maybe he just likes kids or something, oh I hope that's the case'_

The messenger had returned to the room and informed them that the Elf King would not see them unless they came to him, and Ainz laughed wholeheartedly, he almost stopped but realized they would not hear him regardless of what he did. so he followed them quietly from behind and reasoned to hear what else would be said in respect to all this.

When they had arrived in the room, Ainz was a little creeped out, there were women everywhere first, and while elves were very skinny and often their features hard to tell apart, he had been around them enough to know the difference, and he could tell something was not fully okay here but he waited like everyone else, occasionally one of the Cardinals would say something about waiting and he could help but agree.

"This damn creature is testing my patience" said one of them, he had spoken very little at the summit so he didn't remember his name, he had taken to calling him old guy number two but he knew the name of the Cardinal of Water, Ginedine, so he figured maybe he should change this one to old guy number one,

'_I feel the same old guy number one, I feel the same'_

He sighed again silently, and it was not long before the Elf King decided to show up, Ainz was a little taken aback by his attire, he looked like he was trying out for an adult film, nothing which would speak that he was meeting important guests.

they had immediately begun with some insults and traded questioning looks, Ainz knew they did not like each other at all, their nation's had been at war for a long time apparently but he had never learned why. the Insults stopped when the Grand Marshal, began talking about their plan.

Ainz had been livid when the Cardinals had previously discussed how to use the horde of Beastmen, whether to ally with them or just have them try and kill Ainz and his group, but as the seated members started firing ideas back and forth, he found himself almost unable to contain his anger and was very glad [Perfect Unknowable] would mask his power.

they began with this asinine plan to talk over E-Rantel, and go about holding the city hostage, they seemed to have thought it out themselves, and he was both glad and annoyed that they underestimated him so much,

Ainz had, of course, planned for something similar, part of the tactics Punitto Moe had drilled into him was to prepare for the worst, and when he had been surveying the city, he quickly realized its solid defence offered opportunity for anyone who was already inside the city, and so he had stationed some Hanzos strategically throughout, to ensure no willy thieves or an opportunistic band of assassins would have a very pleasant time.

He had pulled out a pen and paper and was writing down the things he would need to change, in order to make this 'attack' easier for them, Ainz had decided what would be done, and as the meeting went on, he was both impressed by how much they were thinking all this out and slightly disappointed as he found himself beginning to critique the obvious flaws in their plan,

'_No, No. No. No. You're doing this all wrong, you can't just attack something you don't know about, gather information, regroup and re-strategize.'_

As Ainz thanked his old friend for all the lessons in strategy and proper PVP tactics, the Elf King began to offer his own spins on this. idiotic venture of theirs, as he spoke Ainz was a little perturbed by his almost sickening desire for blood and war, he seemed messed up in the head, but it was when he had mentioned that as a reward for his participation in this 'war' he wanted Aura and Mare, that Ainz stopped laughing internally at this joke of a king.

Two glaring flames began to stare intently at the Elf King, hatred filled them but it was not the sort that one would give someone who had wronged them or had defeated them. This hatred was pure, it was raw and beautiful, the sort only a god could command, and as Ainz was lifting his hands to completely nuke this room, the Elf ing continued, and explained his plan to send a delegation to attack the Floating Castle in the desert, how they would take weapons from that palace and bring them to use against Ainz and his children.

The combination of his emotional suppression and the clear danger which was now evident to him cause Ainz to not kill this waste of space immediately, his reason returned as he thought of what kinds of weapons were in this castle. while it was true that he had a lot of immunities, there was always unknown and dangerous weapons in Yggdrasil, the shitty devs had a knack for creating ridiculous items which could be a huge detriment to certain classes and races, heteromorphs often fell victim to discrimination by those bastards. The possibility of something else in this world which could pose such a danger made his mind run into overdrive.

The room was now discussing something about a child, the Elf King's child and while Ainz would file this for later, he was surprised again by the disapproval of that Raymond guy, it seemed whoever this child was he knew the, and did not intend to return them to the Elf King, … Ainz thought of the worst,

'_Maybe this guy is a pedophile'_

The thought sickened him and as he thought about how he had demanded his Bukubukuchagma's precious creations as compensation for his involvement, Ainz cemented that when this all was over, he would be alive, and would stay the way for a very, very long time. he knew elves had long lives so he found comfort in knowing that The Great Tomb of Nazarick had a wide assortment of areas this piece of shit could visit.

'_As for the rest of you'_

Ainz had already decided that this little plan of theirs should be allowed, he wanted to see the look on their faces when they failed, when everything came crashing down and despair set in, Ainz usually was not one for suffering, he could be indifferent to it when it came in contrast to a benefit to Nazarick but he did not care to cause people pain. Yet here they were, fools who would do him and his people harm, all for their own greed, lust and hatred, like all those evil people would torment normal salary workers like how he used to be, like those who had driven his mother into an early grave, or Ulbert's parents to die, or overworked Herohero, these types of people who cared not for their fellow creatures,... he would end them all.

When the meeting had concluded he found himself looking angrily at the gathers, their beamings lustful smiles made him uncomfortable, though weirdly enough, it was again Raymond who seemed out of sorts, he wasn't smiling truly, his face a very bad facade, Ainz had thought he was just pragmatic, but perhaps this guy didn't really want to do this, Ainz decided to follow him further to at least see what would happen, he wished to get a clear understanding before he began to set his own plan in motion, and he knew he would need names,

'_Demiurge loves him his names'_

Whenever situations occurred Demiurge would always ask Ainz for names of who could be spared or at least saved until last, and he figured this may be a perfect time to build a small list and get a heads up on being a good boss for once.

When the Cardinals had left the Elf King's room Ainz had followed them they arrived back in their common centre and spoke briefly, it seems they would petition to have the next day's meeting stalled so they could meet with the temples in private and try to meet with Momon as well to gauge his reaction to their proposal. He decided he would allow that, it'll be a good chance to learn more details, Raymond had been tasked with reporting to their escorts and as the other cardinals left, after a brief wait two figures came in, they were two of the masked escorts that had been at the summit and one of them was the girl who had fought the Elf King.

Ainz was interested, she seemed strong and he was curious what her level could be and if she was worthy enough, maybe he could kill her and use her body for experiments on summoning higher tier undead, Ainz had some luck using the body of dragons, but they had recently become more important to the upkeep and comfort of his nation's mail and package delivery system, so he couldn't kill more of the frost dragons he had, and if his alliance with the Dragonlords went well, they would not take kindly to him skinning their kinds for scrolls, or, maybe they would who knows.

'_If I could just find some fire dragons, everyone hates fire dragons'_

Fire dragons were extremely aggressive, and very dangerous, even to other dragons which usually earned them reprimand from their kind, but they had great power and a full grown fire dragon was worth at least two of other kinds, at least that's how it was in Yggdrasil,

The two had come in and knelt before the Cardinal, they took off their masks and Ainz was surprised to find that the first one, an androgynous figure but with clear male features, was quite young, maybe no older than that boy Climb's age.

It was, however, the second one that caught his attention, she was a little taller and had relatively pretty features, she was a hojpoj of black and white with her hair and clothes being a mix, but her most distinguishing feature was her eyes, two black and white heterochromatic eyes looked at the Cardinal, and Ainz looked back with realization.

Raymond started speaking to them, it was a generally commanding tone, as a superior would have when briefing their subordinates, and Ainz could tell he had some commanding role in the Theocracy, as he listened he realized that he had not told them of the plan or anything of the sort yet. His brief centred around what type of day to expect, their asking for the meeting to be pushed back, the fact hey will be out and around in the city and asked them to be vigilant as they head to the temples and other places. when Raymond had finished his brief, the two stood and made to leave, but he interjected.

"Zesshi, May I have a word with you"

The girl stopped and returned as the boy bowed and left when they were alone, Raymond waited a few moments before speaking again,

"I need you to cast a privacy spell over the room, no one can hear about this understand."

"Ray, I am not very good with divine magic you know"

her tone was very calm as if talking to an old friend rather than a superior, Ainz reasoned she was older and had known him a long time,

"I know but please, this won't take long, we just need to talk"

The girl cast a second tier spell that made the room soundproof to the outside, and completely unaffected Ainz went close to them to listen more, Raymond spoke first.

"Okay, listen, we are all in danger, the other Cardinals have just,... I don't know maybe they're just showing their true colours"

"..what happened Ray?"

"They made an alliance with your father we just returned from his room"

The voice was sombre and the silence which followed was deafening, Ainz felt a little awkward sitting in but he preserved, this Zesshi for her part looked like she was about to lose it.

"You cannot be serious" she growled, literally growled.

"Keep it down, yes, I'm very serious, and my next question is as well, would you fight the Sorcerer King?"

"No!"

The answer was immediate,

"Absolutely not, that thing,.. that thing is not meant to be beaten" she was adamant and even shock a little.

"yea, I just wanted to confirm, okay listen, the other Cardinals wan tt wae war with the Sorcerous Kingdom using the Beastmen Attack as a distraction"

The girl was surprised,

"It gets worse, they want to try and use the Black to infiltrate and occupy E-Rantel, convince Momon to help them and they want to send you and the Elf prick to go take weapons from Eryuentiu"

"Wow…. that's,.. a lot, why do they think this will work, we all saw that thing, can they not gauge how much of a power difference there is, Raymond, you have to stop this!"

"I can't, they won't listen to me, to anything, they are adamant that they can get all of this to work if they can get those weapons from the Platinum Dragonlord,"

"I will never go anywhere with that piece of shit, and besides he's weak, I would have to do all the work to fight that damn lizard"

"Apparently he did not use his full power when fighting you, he didn't think you were worth it"

Raymond's words seemed to strike a nerve with her,

"tough words for a loser, and besides who cares, I've found what I've been looking for, at least I think"

"What do you mean?"

Raymond's question echoed Ainz's own thoughts, he at least found this pair to be genuine and honest, he could tell they were good friends,

"That elf boy I saw when we were in the arena, I want him, if he can defeat me I would gladly bear his children."

'_WAIT WHAT!?, is she a pedophile too?'_

"That's a little weird don't you think, Isn't he just a child?" Raymond asked

"We are both elves, I have plenty of time to wait, but.. the same can't be said if we fight this Sorcerer King, I'm serious Raymond, I will not fight that undead, It took everything inside of me to just stand there, what are they all thinking?"

"I know, I don't want this to come back and destroy the people of the Theocracy, I can;y allow them to suffer because of the pride of those few, we are meant to be better, to think of better, Hell I even agree with the Sorcerer King,"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean look around us Zesshi, look at where we went and what we saw, for years we had been speculating of what kind of horrible sight would await us if we came to this city, we all thought the Sorcerer King was just killing everyone for sport, but the people here, all of them even the freaking demi-humans are more advanced than even we are, they're also,... happy"

Ainz gave himself a mental high five and reasoned that he would keep this one alive, or at the very least not kill him like the others,

"Well, I think we were all wrong about a lot of things, especially the undead, but Raymond, don't do anything rash, we have to.."

"They are going to sell you off to him after all this Zesshi"

The worst clearly cut into her, and she gave a slight shake, she looked at him, waiting for more

"They are going to just give you away like some dog to the Elf King"

He chuckled, looking a little defeated

"They even plan to split the whole region in two and rule it as one big Theocracy and Elf nation,.. they don't know Zesshi, they don't know what it's like, what sort of suffering happens out in the world, they think they can just plan, point and everything will happen, they've never been out to the field, never had to risk their lives like we did, and I can't sit still and just let this happen, there are too many good people, too many innocent people who will lose everything because of this."

He took a deep breath, Ainz could tell now what had been going on, the Elf King's child was this girl, she had somehow found her way to the Theocracy and they seemingly had kept her safe, maybe in exchange for her power in some respects, but this deal which would effectively hand her back to him, even he felt his heart ache at the idea, her face seemed almost defeated, he knew what it was like to be betrayed by people you thought you could trust, and he had half a mind to put his hand on her shoulder and consoul her but he knew what his priorities were, but he made note of this,

she finally looked up anger had fallen away, leaving betrayal and pain in her eyes:

"I trusted them, Raymond,.."

"You've given so much to this nation, we both have. So much in blood sweat and tears, but both of us know they don't see you as anything more than just some half human monster with some weird fetishes, they don't care anymore, the loss of that stupid dress blinded them so much they're willing to make deals with devils"

"So why tell me, I won't run, I'd sooner join the Sorcerer King's side and massacre that pointy-eared freak."

"Well, it's great you brought that up,"

he paused to get his breath, and Ainz was actually anxious at what could come next, he saw on the edge of his metaphorical seat wanting to know,

"I think we should go meet with the Sorcerer King"

She looked at him dumbfoundedly at first, before she burst out laughing, his face stock still this whole time and as her laughter subsided, she looked at him again,

"... Wait, oh my gods you're serious!"

Disbelief clear in her voice,

"Yes I am, he's the only one who could do anything to save the Theocracy, we cannot win a fight with him, and id sooner give my life than let my people meet oblivion needlessly, if the Cardinals want to die so badly let them but I will not be joining that black parade,"

Ainz was very impressed by his conviction at this point, and even held respect for him considering his willingness to do what was needed to save his people, and as he made to leave, he caught the elf girl say

"Well, you know I'm with you Ray"

"Thanks, let's hope the Sorcerer King is with us"

Ainz denied himself the urge to say "Closer than you'd think" like some sort of cheap B movie supervillain, so he just made his way out of the range of their magic detection range and opened a portal, ready for the first time since being here to tell everyone of his plan.

Ainz had teleported far enough to feel comfortable and cancelled [Perfect Unknowable]

He then quickly cast [Message]

"Albedo, have all the guardians meet me in the Throne room, bring all the guests as well, it is time we move on to the next step in our plan"

'As you command Lord Ainz"


	18. Chapter 18

**AN: I'm English, so I'm not an expert in many things but we all do have our proficiency certificates in Medival torture, so enjoy the scene and I want to know what you guys would have subjected him to, reviews are always helpful, have a great day.**

**Chapter 18**

Tsaindorcus was not having a very good time, for the first time in his long life he was extremely annoyed and not at anything external, he was annoyed at himself. He looked around him in mild disdain as the sounds of laughter and enjoyment went past him, Suveria seemed to know that he was pouting and every time he went past he made sure to yell louder so Tsaindorcus would know how much fun they were having without him.

Dragons had extremely high stamina, they could operate for days without rest and could fight just as long, this meant that when they had adjourned the summit to allow the humans to rest, he and his group followed the maid out of courtesy rather than any need for rest.

He had been so worried and cautious about the dangers which surrounded the Sorcerer King and while at the time it seemed valid, had he known what he knew now, he would have come with his real body, and if truth be told, that was what annoyed him.

The high council had been given a wondrous vista among the clouds, it was a floating castle with massive open spaces and adorned with even more eye-popping treasures and beauty, this so-called guest house was big enough to allow them all to comfortably inhabit even in their full forms and he had been met with extreme awe when they were led there. He had long since realized that the Sorcerer King was not a being that he could categorize, his wealth, his power, and even his majesty were all astronomical.

When they had their fill of gawking over the treasures which were in their temporary home they wondered what else awaited them here and had asked to be led to different areas to see the scope of this realm, the maid who attended them was happy to bring them first to an area called the Lava Spa, something he was evidently a little familiar with, Dragons were being which had a hard time truly relaxing, they required so much to even stimulate their hard bodies that no normal means of bathing or cleaning was possible, and while the world did have volcanoes, they were usually hoarded by Fire Dragons,

'_Those greedy bastards are hard to be around, much less deal with'_

Fire Dragons took the idea of being greedy and took it to its extremes, Tsaindorcus once met a fire dragon who claimed he had rightful claim to the air he breathed and would kill anything which got too close, a remarkable individual who did not live very long, as some members of their race did not enjoy being pestered about having to hold their breaths when dealing with this fellow.

It was thus exciting when he heard such area's existed within this so-called tomb, that excitement quickly turned to jealousy as he had to sit in the corner like some sort of child as the other four bathed comfortably within the lava spring, he could still hear their moans of bliss now, and cursed himself for bringing this blasted armour. Surveria had taken notice of his mood and ha pledged to make his time even worse as he would comment on how much pleasure he was getting from being there, and for once Tsaindorcus was inclined to believe that he was not just faking it, even that old worm had allowed himself to take his true form in order to maximize the feeling.

Next they had been taken to something known as a Swedish massage house, the name was very strange to him but the idea was even worse, his companions had been laid out on some form of table and were being handled by some strange looking creature, if not for their erratic cries of pleasure he would find the process disgusting, but disgust turned to fascination as he could see they were being controlled and touched in such a manner that would be pleasurable, and that interest quickly again turn to jealousy, this growing trend was fast becoming annoying to him and he contemplated leaving them to their own devices but he was too curious to know what it felt like to leave, and so he stayed in complete misery at their pleasure.

Where they went next, he could definitely say was the worst, and the reason was because he could participate, but not gain anything from it at all, the maid had said that this was an amusement park, something the fellows of the Sorcerer King had created to enjoy themselves, and he could see that there were indeed various things and attractions which could be very amusing, but he could not enjoy any of them. When they had first tried out some form of 'ride' it was a spinning contraption which he participated in, but he quickly learned that the armour would not allow him to fully maximize the experience, and thus again he was relegated to the sidelines as they all screamed and laughed and went about enjoying this wonderland. The thing they were on now was some sort of snaking contraption called a rollercoaster, and as it rose and fell and twisted about the riders would be pulled along, his council members were just screaming their heads off having all this fun, and he had been sitting next to it, eyeing them enviously with his hands crossed for some time when the maid came up to him and spoke.

"Honoured guest, my master had called for an emergency reconvening in the Throne room"

* * *

Demiurge was in an especially fantastic mood when their master had left, he had spoken highly of his intellect and this just chipped the demon to no end, so excited was he that he had even taken the time to just bask in that feeling before going on about his business. He usually had much to do and he knew that preparation was important but before he could attend to all that there was something else which he felt needed to be done, and he would see to it that it occurred.

when that insufferable insect at dared attempt upon his master's life Demiurge had to use every ounce of will power and strength to reign himself from no rampaging upon him and his disgusting brood, he wished he could rain upon them hellfire and brimstone forever, flay their soft skin and send morsels of pain radiating throughout their being for all time, but at that moment he had to restrain himself, something he knew even Albedo was also very much trying her best to do, but after he had seen how masterfully his lord had played them, and even acquired a world item, he had been left stunned,

'_Truly my lord has no equal'_

But when that feeling had atlas passed, the rage remained, and thus led to where he was now.

Demiurge had something of a tune stuck in his head, he found that whenever he tortured anyone personally, he enjoyed singing along to the screams of their pain, making something of a song out of it, and this was no different, though this one was just especially sweet,

He knew the mortal had not spent much time with Kyouhukou, thus his mind had yet to completely break, and so it was still fresh for horrors. Demiurge had promised the Prince of Pain that he would return the Cardinal in time and had even told him of what he attempted to do, after hearing of this Kyouhukou was more than happy to hand him over, and even promised he would contribute his own part after the archdemon had his fill.

"I do so hope you are comfortable, it would be a shame to have you not feeling your best"

He had bound the Cardinal to a seat, though to call it such would be a disservice to this contraption of pain, in truth it was a slowly descending restraint, its purpose to elevate and lower an individual to another's liking, below the Cardinal he had a large and extremely sharp triangular device with its topmost tip pointing directly to the bottom-most orifice of the Cardinal, it was a device his creator had made based on another called the wooden horse, but Demiurge preferred this much more. He had been slowly lowering the man down until it would begin to tear into him and slowly elevating him again until he stopped crying, sometimes he would lower him directly to its edge, and leave him there, and just wait for all the crying and screaming to die down, looking at the slight hopeful expression which would come across his face, before dropping him down upon the device fully, he would, of course, heal him and repeat the process, but now he needed to think of what would come next, and as he looked the naked man over, he thought to ask,

"Say,... we've played with the back,.. tell me how much do you like your penis?"

The absorbance look of horror on the Cardinals face was just delectable and Demiurge knew he had found his next phase to their time together.

"Demiurge, Lord Ainz request us all within the Throne room, he is ready to explain the next phase of his plan"

The Message spell had abruptly stopped Demiurge in his tracks and when he had heard it was a summons form his master, to explain more of his unfathomable intellect no less, Demiurge had completely lost interest in this pest, quickly making way to heed the call. His assistants were quick to ask for further instructions in the torture,

"Lord Demiurge what should we do with the human?"

"I must make haste to await Lord Ainz, you may do as you wish with the thing, but leave him intact for when you return him to Kyouhukou"

With that, he quickly made to enter the gate and found himself upon the doors which led to the throne room.

He found that Shalltear and Sebas had also made haste and were there, with Aura, Mare and Cocytus quickly following behind. Demiurge morphed his face in case any of the humans appeared and they entered the throne room together, making sure to pay the ultimate of respects before their master had appeared, when they had found their respective positions, he noticed that the lesser beings were now beginning to make their entrance, with the vassals from the Baharuth and Re-Estize Kingdom making hasty entrances, they had sweat building which Demiurge took to show their respective dedication to executing orders from their master, Demiurge smile slightly at this as he was proud that these creatures could at least understand who their betters were.

Following them the Dragon Queen appeared next, she and changed into proper clothing for an audience and while he was slightly displeased at how she was not with the rest in a faster manner he was at least convinced that in time and with proper training she too would recognize that a summons from their lord was to be executed immediately regardless of form or factor, it was an absolute order form a god, and must be treated as such.

The Dragonlords came last, and while everyone else had appeared relatively fast, within a few minutes of each other, Demiurge still thought they should have all made more haste when responding to a summons, but that was to be worked out later for now he was intent to learn about what manner of work he would be given to further his masters goals, and when everyone had been in place almost as if he knew all were there, the doors opened as his glorious master appeared and regal made his way to his rightful position upon the throne.

Demiurge and all others had lowered themselves to their knees, and he had his head deeply bowed to ensure he was worthy of being in the presence of such a god

"Raise your heads" the majestic voice called out to them and like a sinner being saved he responded with conviction, he looked upon the majesty of his lord and awaited the words to come from him as a starving man would await food, or a thirsty man await water.

"I had recently left to confirm some suspicions I had concerning the future, and have returned to relay what I have learned and plan for the next step."

Everyone waited with anticipation,

"Queen Draudillon, I had anticipated that with my servants actions in holding back the Beastmen they would respond in kind and retaliate, in the time since our last meeting I confirmed that indeed there is a sizable Beastmen army amassing and now moving to lay waste to your nation, they will most likely reach the bounds of your country within the week"

The message was received with hushed worry and as the Dragon Queen made to make comment his master raised a hand to hush her,

"Do not worry Quen Draudillon, while we have not yet completely worked our terms, I do intend to take you as a vassal, and I will not allow such harm to come to your nation, any of your nations, of this I promise upon the name Ainz Ooal Gown!"

The declaration had power, it was deep and it filled Demiurge with a sense of affirmation and amazement, one of the dragonlords asked

"Your Majesty, how many of these Beastment are there?"

"While I do not have exact numbers, they seem to number over four hundred thousand"

The humans went mental at this number, and fear seemed to grip them,

"Worry not, such a force means nothing to me, what does, and the reason for my bringing you here is this; It is my prediction that the Theocracy will have knowledge of this Beastmen gathering, from my understanding their intelligence network is quite extensive and very well developed. Thus if we assume this to be the case, I predict they will take advantage of this situation and seek to attack not only the Sorcerous Kingdom but the entirety of our summit's members as well"

There was again mild amazement and fear at the words and his master continued,

"It would be logical for them to utilize this opportunity, they will believe that with my absence and that of my guardians, in dealing with the Beastmen threat, the rest of our lands will be open and ripe for conquest, perhaps they may even hold some cities and population centres as hostages, to ensure we meet specific demands. I also suspect they will attempt to ally with the Elf King and add his forces to theirs, I have suspected that the Elf King has ulterior motives for coming to this summit, his mannerisms indicate he has no intention for peace. Thus if the Theocracy approaches him with favourable terms and a plan for war, it is my prediction he will accept. With their combined power they will be able to decimate much of our lands before any sizeable retaliation can be had, but more so I believe they will also attack you Platinum Dragonlord, in your home of Eryuentiu, in order to attain items from Yggdrasil to have a myriad of weapons in order to try and kill me."

As his master spoke of these divine revelations as if they were commonplace thoughts Demiurge was blown back by the level of planning and insight his master had when it came to this summit. Demiurge had thought that such a thing would give some potentially antagonistic parties opportunity to try and take advantage of the event and he had also believed that the Beastmen would not stay silent but as his master confirmed and added to his predictions Demiurge was floored by his lord's intellect, he could not even imagine being at such a place where he too could be as such, and he was internally being rendered more and more flabbergasted.

"_Oh lord Ainz, what folly for me to ever presume I can even approach your intellect"_

He shook his head in delight has his lord spoke more and more from his otherworldly intellect.

* * *

Throughout the course of five minutes Draudillon had gone from surprise to abject fear to something akin to anticipation and excitement, she had been discussion with Renner and Jircniv about how the Sorcerer King was beyond anyone they had ever met, and how his foresight and intellect was truly divine, and while she was impressed she had some doubt, but as he foretold events which her mind could not ever even conceive, she was inclined to apologise to them forever doubting at all.

"Thus I believe they will first try to take my city of E-Rantel, and I intend to let them"

At these words, she was a bit blown back, surely if he had anticipated all of this he would act no?

"My lord, why would you allow them to proceed with their plan?"

The question that Jircniv asked was right on the dot, and she was now intently listening to hear the reasons herself.

"Indeed, a very good question, the reason comes to timing, the Theocracy will commit a very large force to this venture, they will seek to strike as hard and as fast as they can, and thus they must bring all they have to bear in order to ensure their objectives are completed. unfortunately this means that they will be willing to do anything for victory and thus to ensure that nothing festers for the future, we must make this a decisive and complete victory for us, save something more comes from it five or ten or one hundred years later, allowing them to bring their cards to the table and still losing means giving them the understanding that our unity will always triumph over them, and thus we must let them proceed with their plan at least in part."

He looked beyond her to the dragonlords,

"Platinum Dragonlord, as I said before I believe they will come for you while the Beastmen attack, and in keeping with this, I wish for you to allow them to take your weapons, there is a development which I am still waiting to verify but if it is true then one of the would-be attackers will turn on the other and to the one who is left, I would ask that you give them some of the weapons, perhaps nothing which will damage the world but once this is over you may reclaim them."

She was very interested in what development this was and she was curious to know how he could think such things even know such things but she reasoned again at all the wondrous things which have occurred within just the past few days and saw that she was indeed in the right in offering her nation to this god amongst men.

The Dragonlord seemed to think it over, and she could understand why, he must have quite the attachment to that castle and his greed would not allow him to easily part with his horde, but he spoke in the affirmative

"If it indeed as you say, your Majesty, I will allow them some of the weapons, but tell me, how is it will we know of these things, what will prove your predicts true?"

"Another good question, and indeed, I would say should they decide to postpone the summit meeting tomorrow, it will be indicated that events will transpire as I have predicted, thus we can begin to proceed without own plan, understand we must allow them to take the field, and then we will completely defeat them,"

As she heard these words she had conviction in her heart that everything would be okay, this being with power beyond imagination, and wealth beyond belief had found in her enough to take her under its protection, she was relieved and happy to know that for possibly the first time in forever, she could no longer worry so much about the safety of her people and the health of her nation.

'_Wow, the Theocracy is really fucking up aren't they?'_

* * *

Within a basement chamber inside the high Temple of the God of Fire in E-Rantel Maximilian and the rest of the Cardinals were speaking with the temple priests and other important members, they were being surprisingly hard to convince but it seems that they were finally coming around.

As one of the central figures who worshipped the God of Darkness, Maximilian had a rather different view of the Sorcerer King, he could tell that most of his peers hated Ainz Ooal Gown because of his status as an undead, but Maximillian knew better, he had always admired the undead and found their abilities and beings to be wondrous, it was this fascination that had led him to become the worshipper of the God of Darkness, and his devotion had led him into some very dark circles early in his life.

Should some events have transpired differently he could have become a member of the extremist cult of Zurrernorn, but he knew better than to associate with those radicals, and thus he turned his path to law, he knew that if he could convince everyone of the benefits and merits of the undead he could grow his following and publicly practice the more,.. darker aspects of his faith, but that battle was long becoming harder and harder to fight.

Originally Maximillian had been excited to hear of the rise of Ainz Ooal Gown and his status as an undead, he had theorized many times of what they could accomplish if they brought him under their control but when his power was placed on display Maximilian had quickly made to ensure this was not the very God of Death reborn, and when he had confirmed it was not, a slight hatred burned in him, he did not like that this undead was stealing the rightful place of his lord Surshana, but its existence could be tolerated at least for the time being.

When reports began flowing in that the Undead King was utilizing undead for labour and making advancements by having undead perform other such tasks Maximillian's hatred turned extreme, all of these were HIS! ideas, he had thought of them years ago, he was to implement them and grow the status of the Theocracy, he was to be the one to change the minds of everyone about the undead, not his imposter not this creature. His hatred had turned into a vile envy of the Sorcerer King and a hatred for all the things he had done, this was not supposed to be how everything went, and the thing at fault the one ruining everything was this Ainz Ooal Gown.

"It must die," Maximilian said out loud, almost out of place, but it seemed most agreed with him, everyone save for a few, and Raymond were nodding in agreement.

'_Maybe I should speak with Raymond, he seems down after Dominic, they were close,'_

As he thought about the sadness emanating from his fellow cardinal Maximilian vowed to make sure Raymond would be the one to drive the final nail in the coffin and end this Sorcerer King once and for all,

'_I think he'd like that, he's been pretty quiet after that meeting'_

When they had all left after meeting the Elf King, Raymond had been exited and went to tell the Black Scripture to prepare for their mission here, and when that was completed the next morning he had been the one to communicate with the King's envoys that they would be asking to postpone the talks to obverse a religious obligations and to meet the people. the fools had accepted it gleefully and the Cardinals went about their way to meet with the priest and ensure the downfall of this reached hive of villainy.

When they had met all the priests they first asked about the status of the faith and what dangers and troubles they were going through, they were surprised to learn that while membership had lowered the faithful were left alone to practice as they pleased here, and that had turned some to think that they were safe. When the Cardinals had assured them that they were in fact not safe and it was all a ploy, they had begun to see the truth, when they heard of the sacrifice Dominic made to expose the true nature of the undead king, they had become angry and were more than happy to help them, once they finished speaking to them of the plan they went about discussing what available avenues and routes they could take to hold the city firmly.

"E-Rantel is meant to hold fast against a siege, but within the city there are various supply points and tunnels throughout which give it easy access for soldiers and the like to move around, while the Sorcerer King has stationed permanent guards around some of the more vulnerable points there is still plenty that we can use to hide your troops and smuggle the rest when the time is right"

The one who spoke was the High Priest of Fire in the city, he had been the easiest to convince has he was originally a Theocracy citizen who came here to administer the faith, when the undead had taken over he felt trapped and fearful and while the fear had lessened he hated having to share his space with all these demi humans and monsters, the idea of freeing the city and returning peace to the humans here was a godsend to him and he was more than enthusiastic to help.

"Excellent, we need to be able to bring extra hands from outside, the entirety of our force is not here now, and those who are will need to be hidden while the others smuggled, what can you do about that?" Berenice asked

As the Cardinal of Fire, she was in some ways his superior and the High Priest acted as such, giving her propr honours represented in her rank, this showing of faith was a welcomed sight to Maximillian who had seen too many humans here who seemed much too comfortable about living with and being ruled by monsters, it all needed to change back to how it was, how it was supposed to be.

As the priest spoke to them about placement and available space for hiding troops and getting supplies to them an interruption came in the form of a knock, it was a coded knock they used to let them know it was a messenger and for what purpose, as the sound reached in, the room quieted, and waited, the confirmation was had and they allowed the individual to come in.

"Well, what news do you have?"

The messenger had been sent early in the morning through secret channels to find a way to speak with the adventurer Momon, they knew he resided in the inner part of the city, close to the palace and generally would come out to speak with the people and get suggestions.

"He says he will meet with you your holiness, he was surprised you wanted to meet so soon, but he says he can do it, he will be at the Shining Gold Pavillion awaiting you when you have concluded your business here."

"That is wonderful news, excellent, now to ensure he does not do anything funny before we arrive, I would like to trust the man but we cannot be sure he has not completely sold his soul to this Sorcerer King." said the Pontifex

"Of course your holiness"

with that the messenger slowly backpedalled diligently and left the room, closing the door as he left, footsteps could be heard receding further and further,

"Well, it seems another critical component may be at hand,"

The comment was well received,

"Indeed your holiness, with the involvement of Momon we would all feel much better, he is truly a powerful individual and a beacon of righteousness, all or people will be behind us when they learn he supports our cause," one of the other priests, who had been relatively silent until this point spoke up with a relieved expression on his face,

Maximillian disliked people like him, the ones who had faith only when things seemed good, no they may not be heretics, but they were faithless, something he believed was worse, at least the heretics had the damn nerve to decide on where they stood, unlike this spineless coward who only chose when he thought everything was going the right way.

'_You're lucky It's not too late to join the winning team you coward'_

"Understand the success of this operation is paramount, we must ensure we take the city, we must be diligent to get rid of the undead, and keep the people safe, we have ensured our agents that they may kill any of the demi-humans who resist but make sure we keep the peace, we must make the Sorcerer King show his true colours and once we have the advantage we will deal the killing blow, E-Rantel was the start and it will be the end of the Sorcerer King, may the six bless you"

As the speech was said, they all seemed enthused and were ready to see it though, Maximilian and the rest began to leave, gathering their things and Berenice performing a quick blessing upon the people as they made their way, in the front of the group Yvon spoke,

"I am happy to hear that this is coming together, with the temples in line we can finish our preparations, let us hope Momon is as human as they say,"

"I believe we are well on our way to finally being rid of that insufferable pest" chuckled Maximilian, and the rest gave quick laughs as they exited the temple and were met by the light of the city beyond

'_Do not worry long my people, we will free you from this false god very soon' _

Thought Maximilian as he was embraced by the warmth of the outside air.

'_What a beautiful day for our glorious Theocracy'_


	19. Chapter 19

**AN: Hey there everyone, so quick update, firstly ****I want to thank everyone for the amazing support and love, I could have never imagined when I first started I would get anywhere near this point so thank you all for the help, suggestions, corrections, explanations, and reviews, please keep it up, we're getting towards the climate so things are going to start coming together finally, exciting. And second is**** potentially bad news, I'm going in tomorrow for a survey and for the next few days I will be stoned out of my mind, so that means I most likely will not be updating during that time, so this will be the last chapter for a little bit sorry. **

**Chapter 19**

The morning before they left to 'explore and observe' their religion, Raymond had made his way to the royal palace to speak with the maids and servants in attendance to let them know of their request to postpone the summit. To his surprise when he and Zesshi had appeared at the palace the Sorcerer King's Prime Minister, the angelic beauty which had been waiting by his throne was by the gates, almost waiting for them.

"Hello representatives of the Slane Theocracy, I will be escorting you back to the Great Tomb of Nazarick,.."

She paused and looked around them, her golden eyes expecting something,

"Will the rest be joining us momentarily?" she asked

Raymond responded,

"I do apologise, my comrades and I wish to ask that we postpone the summit meeting today, we wish to observe a very sacred religious custom and will be out within the city for the day, again I sincerely apologise."

She seemed to think for a moment, and there was almost a sadistic smile that dawned upon her face as her wings ruffled just a tiny bit, Raymond thought for a moment she may be angry at their insistence and he was internally apologetic for lying to her, knowing full well what his comrades were trying to do, she quickly composed herself and responded to him.

"I see, It is indeed important to hold true to one's faith, then I shall relay your message to Lord Ainz and we will expect to continue the summit at the earliest possible time."

Her understanding again hit Raymond like an arrow, she seemed so trusting and oblivious and her otherworldly beauty only added to the guilt he was already feeling, but he composed himself and asked the real question he had wanted to, and the real reason for his insistence for coming alone.

"I do apologise again but if I may impose on you once more."

She had begun turning and halted, surprise clear on her face and she indicated for him to continue, Raymond looked behind him and made eye contact with Zesshi, steeled himself and spoke softly,

"I wish to ask if it would be possible for his Majesty to meet with me, personally, alone. Please forgive my insolence but I will be at the Temple of the God of Earth today in the afternoon hours if his Majesty could please make some time to meet me there, it is a matter of grave importance"

As he spoke the words, he congratulated himself for not choking and staying calm, his eyes were darting back and forth after this to ensure nothing was out of sorts, and he heard her reply,

"I cannot speak for my master, but it seems there is a usual mass which occurs after the twilight hours there, I know he would be more comfortable meeting you at that time if that is possible for you Cardinal."

Her response was a touch strange as if the Sorcerer King had somehow predicted this request, but he paid it no mind and nodded in confirmation to the altered plan and thank her before making his leave.

As they left the royal compound, Zesshi had whispered in his ear,

"Ray, there's something really scary about her,"

"What do you mean?"

"I'm not fully sure, there's definitely power but maybe something more, just a woman's intuition but she is not one to trifle with"

Raymond mentally noted that warning and he proceed back to relay to the others that their request would be honoured.

When they had heard this they immediately made to go speak with the Temples, after arranging a meeting with the High Priests, Raymond had remained relatively silent for the duration of the talks partly because Berenice was taking most of the talking time, though he had no issue with it and ultimately because he wanted to catalogue as much information as possible.

He needed a good base of information to try and sell to the Sorcerer King if he was to save his nation, but something which seemed odd to him was how much Maximilian was looking his way during the course of the talks, he almost seemed suspicious in some light and Raymond was a touch uncomfortable.

Maximilian was always one of the more, strange, members of the Cardinals, his love of magic and necromancy, in particular, was something Raymond knew very much about and had actually been very surprised when he spoke out against the Sorcerer King considering he was undead. His patron god, Surshana, was, of course, undead as well, thus his aversion and even disdain for the undead King was out of place, but Raymond believed it was rooted at least in some parts in jealousy, and perhaps that led more to his hate.

Raymond had also heard some rather, unsavoury rumours about his history and a particular group of interest that worshipped the undead, there was even talk that suggested that Maximillian had been the one who had connected the former ninth seat of the Black Scripture, Clementine to the group Zurrernorn, and while not many had knowledge of this, Raymond himself could not deny the possibility considering what he knew of the history between the three figures.

The meeting with the Temples had turned completely when the messenger had returned and informed them Momon was willing to talk, something which Raymond took with a bitter pill, he was of course very excited to meet this pillar of human strength but he hoped it would have been on much better terms and not on the eve of something as catastrophic as this. but nonetheless they had made to end the meeting quickly so that they would not keep the superpower waiting too long, as they made their way through the Temple, Raymond made note of the scheduled time for prayer for the Earth God's temple, and saw they would have half a day before they met with the Sorcerer King, it gave enough time and he would have his information and demands ready by then.

* * *

The messenger had led the group through some less populated areas and while the traffic was less, there were more demi-humans within those groups, mingling and mixing with normal humans

'_The fools don't even realize the danger they are in'_

Ginedine had tried his best to remain very open throughout this process and he had begun to see the merit of the Sorcerer King, he had even believed Raymond when they discussed that maybe they could coexist, but after sitting through that meeting with the monster, and its actions leading up to the possible death of Dominic, Ginedine knew there was definitely something wrong he had no belief that this undead king wanted any peace and the stick and feel of its unholy power only deepened that conclusion for him.

Logically Ginedine knew it was not a good idea to approach or confront the Sorcerous Kingdom, he had wanted to destroy this being once they lost the godly treasure, but his reasonable mind told him that was not the time, but as they found out about the Beastmen horde and after Berenice laid out the benefits of using such an event as a basis for an attack he was slowly convinced. As well when the Elf King had proposed gathering more of those weapons from the world Yggdrasil he had reaffirmed even more towards the possibility of winning this war, and he was very much vested now,

_'We will see this to its end'_

Ginedine had sat towards the window and could see the outside world as they headed towards the house which Momon waited for them in, and while before he had seen examples of peaceful coexistence, now he saw nothing but danger, all these people were just ripe for any hungry demihuman or heteromorph, and they were all in present danger, just happily living their lives as walking talking livestock,

The ride eventually took to a residential district and stopped outside a small and comfortable looking home, it was within human dominate territory and he was very happy to know there would be none of those other vile creatures walking around them.

They all exited the carriage after making sure the area was free of any potential dangers they quickly entered the home and Yvon had his talented knights protect them with Magic, when everything had been set he finally took to surveying the house, it was large enough to accommodate the party but was small and had little in furnishing or amenities, but there was clear function within as well, as they entered a large meeting room, he saw a set of sofas encircling a small rectangular table, the entire sense spoke of purpose over any form of grandeur and this made the being sitting in one of those sofas even more amazing.

'_His humility is so great he does not care for the luxuries his position would afford him, truly Momon is a champion of all humanity'_

They all began to move as Momon stood,

"Welcome Cardinals of the Slane Theocracy, please won't you have a seat"

His voice was majestic and his stature spoke of confidence and exuded power, it was a feeling he had somewhat received from the Sorcerer King but he was genuine, it was human, and it was amazing.

* * *

Berenice was a touch star stuck as she reached out and shook the hand of Momon, she could tell he was holding back his powerful grip so as to not hurt her and she noted that in her mind,

'_Such a pinnacle of power and humility'_

When all the introductions had been had they sat and Momon spoke,

"Forgive me for being blunt, but I was led to believe you were observing a religious practice, may I ask what you are doing here?"

"Of course, please do forgive our abrupt notice for this meeting, and we sincerely thank you for accepting, but this is part of our observance we are currently planning an event and would like to know if you might be of some assistance in it."

The Pontifex's words were courteous and respectful something she very much agreed with, and before she was going to make comment, Raymond stepped in and asked a question,

"I apologise for my rude interruption, but may we please ask that you tell us some about your origin, perhaps remove your helmet if that is not too much trouble?"

The room quieted to hear his response,

"I hail from a country south of here, I cannot, unfortunately, speak too much more on this, but as for my face, it is not something I enjoy to show but for the sake of such guests I can very quickly remove it.."

He made to take off his helmet before Yvon very quickly interjected,

"No there is no need sir Momon, we are completely sure you are who you say you are, we know there is some discrimination towards your people in these areas and we would not like to make you uncomfortable or anything of the sort."

Berenice had been extremely curious to see, but as she thought about what they may be potentially asking him to do, it made sense to not trouble or earn his disdain over such simple things, if he had a negative perception of them because they had demanded he remove his helmet then this operation could be in serious danger,

"Indeed, there is no reason to trouble you so, please let us continue then,"

She said quickly and smiling to give the added effect, Raymond again interjected and asked something

"If I may just bother you once more, I wish to ask, are you a descendant of a god?"

The question lingered for some time and while they had discussed this in private it would be great to have an answer finally. While they were all indeed curious about this, Berenice was starting to question how much Raymond wished to gain his cooperation, these questions were probing and Momon could just as easily refuse to answer and ask them to leave, but it seems he was a very generous and gracious man as he seemed happy to reply,

"I have spoken with his Majesty on the topic before, and while at first I did not fully understand he had explained to me how the gods we recognize in this world may be beings from another called Yggdrasil and in my nation there was such a being long ago, and yes, I am one of his descendants, while again the specifics are confidential I presume you could say I am the son of a god."

The room was fluttering with awe at his words, and there were several bouts of people saying "Amazing" under their breaths,

A God-kin was special, but a God-kin of this level of power was unbelievable, and being human on top of it was indeed something very special, Berenice had many questions she could ask now but they needed to remain focused and had to get back to task, so she decided to take over and steer them towards what needed to be ascertained to make their plans work.

"That is indeed amazing, but if I may return us to our purpose"

The words jerked everyone and Momon replied,

"Ahh, yes, you spoke of some event I may be of assistance in, what is this event?"

"I apologise sir Momon, but before we can fill you in on that, there are some questions I wish to ask,.."  
he seemed hesitant for a moment but said,

"very well, "

"Excellent, thank you. Now then; why did you come to this city?"

The question was one they knew, one of their spies had informed them of his mission to kill the vampire which had terrorized his nation,

"I came here originally hunting a pair of vampires, one of which, Honyopenyoko, I killed in the forest near here"

This was again information they knew,

"There was a vampire within the retinue of the Sorcerer King, Shalltear I believe her name was, is she the other vampire you are hunting?"

"No, she is not, the other vampire is a male, the mate of Honyopenyoko, and a particular bastard, of the members of his Majesty's court I find Shalltear to be one of the less threatening ones"

This information was news to them and she needed to press some to gain more,

"Oh, are his assistants not all-powerful?"

"No, there are very few who can be considered strong, the butler Sebas, is most likely the strongest in my estimations, but the rest serve other functions and contribute in other areas"

They all had picked up their faces in light of this information, and everyone could see the plan coming together now,

'_It makes sense, if that Dragonoid butler is the strongest than the rest must be just for show, so if the butler is gone we can assume the main bulk of his power is not present as well, if we sway Momon to our side, the Black Scripture will have no resistance in taking the city'_

Berenice was elated to hear this and it only made her more convinced that taking this course of action was indeed the right idea, thus they needed to make sure the Momon would side with them, this was critical.

"We thank you for your news sir Momon, I have one final question, When the Sorcerer King took this city, you chose to say, why is that?"

Now everyone's eyes were focused, this was the answer which would determine if they left now or invited him to their plans,

"I chose to stay to protect the innocent people of this city, to ensure their safety and hold his Majesty accountable for their protection"

She was blown away,

'_Clearly, these are the words of a hero among heroes'_

Thoroughly convinced she began proceeded forward,

"We are very happy to hear that sir Momon, and we wish to aid you in the protection of this city and its inhabitants if of course, that is something you still wish to do,"

The armour shifted and he leaned forwards

"How do you mean?"

"We have a plan to liberate this city form the Sorcerer King, and circumstances are transpiring which will allow us to do just that, we wish to ask you when the time is right to protect the people with our forces, to ensure their safety and side with us,"

He didn't respond immediately, and Berenice's heart was pounding, e finally said,

"You understand any involvement of mine is this can be considered treason…"

The words carried consequence and they knew as such,

"We do, and we would not approach you unless we knew with certainty that we could prevail, and we are very confident that with your help we can minimize human casualties within the city to almost zero, we only wish to destroy the undead and the more dangerous demihumans"

Again he seemed to contemplate their words, letting them sink in and thought of everything they were saying,

"And this plan of yours, does it include how to defeat the Sorcerer King, you understand he is very powerful"

"Yes it does, and we understand very well that the Sorcerer King is very powerful, but we have contingencies in place to ensure that we can deal with him, from our understanding he cannot utilize the spell he used at the Katze Plains, and he will not threaten the people here thus we have maneuvered him into a corner, and once we receive the stockpile of weapons we are currently seeking to acquire we will have the firepower to kill the Sorcerer King, once and for all, he will no longer torment the people here and once we have liberated this city, perhaps you could serve as its new governor?"

He looked very surprised by the words,

"You have the means to kill the Sorcerer King?!"

she smiled,

"Indeed we do, or rather we will, and he won't be able to terrorize the citizens of this world again, the mothers and children whose husbands and fathers fell victim to that monster will be vindicated at last, so will you help us restore true peace to this city?"

… he spoke

"What of the demi-humans here?"

"We will take mercy upon them and relegate them back to the wilds where they belong, and once this is all over, we humans will build a nation strong enough to ensure the freedom and security of all future generations."

There was silence again before the answer came,

"Very well, I will help, what should I do?"

Berenice smiled like a little girl as they began to explain to this hero of his role.

* * *

_\- East of Dragon Kingdom_

Lan stared out over the marching Beastmen, the blood red eyes under his full body clock presented something demonic and cruel, and he was very much looking forward to what would come next.

The Beastmen had taken a slight bit longer to rally than he had anticipated but once everyone was together they were four hundred and sixty-five thousand in total, a force which comprised of all manner of Beasts, from Batmen to Tigermen, the slithery Naga and their various brethren, to Zoastia, and Bearmen, a whole host of Pandamen who had made up the front line. Lan was extremely happy about this, he was proud of his fellow tribal kings and could just imagine all the delicious blood which would flow, his mouth began to water at the idea and he decided it may be time for a snack.

The Beastmen had brought with them enough supplies to last them all the trip to the Dragon Kingdom, they did not bother with stocking up on more because they calculated that they would be gathering more food once they go there or would be lowering their number, they either would feed or die and either was fine so long as it was glorious.

Lan moved quietly throughout the camps heading towards the stock pens, it was night time and while he was feeling extremely powerful he knew some of his army's members would not be able to move efficiently during the night, the march there had been very slow, moving such a large force was not efficient, tearing down tents and getting every section ready to march was slow. They had used a system of leapfrog in order to not slow themselves down too much, each section would rest while one section was moving, and then would rest while the other began to move in front of them. This slow progression was just that, slow, but it ensured no one was lost, though some members had become bored and taken to fighting amongst themselves to entertain the time.

As he got closer the livestock pens he heard a tantalizing sound, a human child crying, and his heart skipped a beat, every now and then they would bring pregnant women with them to let them bear their young, human children were delicious, infants especially, their blood pure and their bones soft and crunchy, oh how he loved just sinking his fangs into those delectable little snacks and hearing this noise he decided to run faster to be the first to attain this prize. as he rounded the corner a sad and very frustrating sight caught his eye, a line.

'_Damn it!'_

He was too late, and it seems some of the more opportunistic members had already been waiting for the birth, he was considering joining the lot who would fight for the newborn when he heard the wind ruffle behind him, a dangerous aura of blood permeated the area and he heard an all too familiar voice roar out

"Anyone who touches that will die!"

He knew from that instant who was bold enough to issue such an order and as he mouthed the name of the only Beastmen who would be so demanding he turned to face her

"Vishneri the Carnage," he said with a mocking smile: "How great of you to join us"

"I'm not joining anything Lan, I'm here for my prize"

Her eyes were bloodshot, and she carried her broadsword in hand, he knew this was going to get dangerous for anyone who would stand in her way and there was nothing which would stop her from ripping everyone here apart to get to that little infant, he cursed his luck and stole one last look at the little treat. it's mother was sobbing uncontrollably holding it like a precious stone, the child would not stop crying from how tight the mother was gripping it and her frantic breaths only made the sight more amusing,

'_Damn it all'_

"I have no intention to fight you now, maybe we'll all get some live infants when we reach the Dragon Kingdom"

He mused as he moved out of the way, she moved past him with sickening speed, the waiting line quickly dispersing as she reached the front of the caravan's door, impatient she ripped the hinge off and started inside. Like some frightened animal the mother had crawled towards the end of the caravan and the baby grew louder, Vishneri reached inside and took hold of the mothers leg, pull both towards the entrance, she pried apart the little creature and took possession of the baby, licking it with her tongue as she threw the mother back inside.

She calmed down as she was slowly kissing the treat, and she walked towards Lan while getting it ready for consumption.

"So how far are we?"

she took hold of a leg and twisted, immediately the thing descended into screaming, Vishneri ripped off the leg and tossed it into her mouth, savouring the taste as Lan looked on disapprovingly,

"Don't eat it like its some common street trash you twit" he reprimanded her for wasting such a fine snack

"What, I like taking them apart piece by piece and eating the head last, it just tastes so much better hearing it scream" she spoke and as she ripped off the other leg, its screams had intensified and were slowly dying down, he figured the little thing couldn't handle the shock and would die soon, and his mouth watered thinking of how good it would have tasted if he could have had his time with it, unlike this disgusting beast.

"Whatever, we should be there within three days time, I suspect some resistance when we enter their border so maybe we can get a good stretch before hunting them all down," he said slightly raising his hands to free up some pent up stress.

'I hope so, I'm getting tired of walking, though I do enjoy this land, I'll have to get some of my tribe team leaders to come and populate here when we are done."

'Yea, it shouldn't;y take too long to get everything sorted out, I suspect we can make a line for their capital and then break off and let people do as they please for a while, once we have the entire kingdom broke, we can make permanent camps and begin with the other human nations, shouldn't take more than a few weeks max" said Lan lazily,

While he had been fired up and excited when they had first started this, he was growing bored of all the walking and dealing with almost five hundred thousand Beastmen was annoying, but he knew soon it would be worth it.

'_When this is over, I'm going to find a nice dark hole a take a nap for a few years'_

* * *

Raymond had hoped things would not have taken the turn that they did, Momon was on board now and it seemed like nothing would stop the plan to try and take over the city, this all stressed him out to no end and honestly, he needed a nap, a drink, SOMETHING!

But there was work to be done, and when they had finished speaking with Momon about his involvement they left to return to the pavilion, with Momon on board they spoke briefly with the Elf King and made sure he was ready to leave as soon as possible, him and Zesshi would be heading out of the city at the break of dawn so hey could begin their phase of the plan, all of this was to make sure they would have enough time to get to the Castle, take whatever weapons they needed and return, while the captain of the Black wanted to go, it was ultimately decided he would stay and be the vanguard for the taking of E-Rantel, they needed a powerhouse here to deal with some of the Death Knights and he was the second strongest of the God-kin.

When all of this was done, Raymond had asked to leave to go pray to the gods at his temple, this was a very normal thing and his comrades were all too happy to see his devotion manifest, and thus an hour before the appointed time, himself and Zesshi had left the Pavilion on horseback heading towards the temples.

"Do you think this will work, these disguises are not very good"

They had taken light cloaks to hide their identity and were taking the long route around the residential areas to throw off any would-be followers, Raymond needed to look like he was taking all the necessary precautions even though all he wanted to do was run into the Sorcerer King's palace right now and yell everything of this stupid plan.

"It's going to have to be, this is all we can do for now, sorry you couldn't bring [Bane of Uranus]"

Raymond knew of her love for the weapon and she was rarely without it, but for the sake of their disguise she had with her a sword and dagger, he knew she was plenty dangerous with a piece of cloth even but that did not lessen how much she complained about missing her little toy.

"it's fine, it honestly wouldn't make any difference if the Sorcerer King decided to kill us, so hey, no use complaining about it Ray"

The reply was chipper and it caught him off guard, he chuckled to himself,

"What's so funny brat?"

"Oh nothing, just thinking about how we even got here, going to temple of the gods, in a city of the dad to meet something which could very well be a god on its own,"

she laughed with him before adding in a snarky voice,

"This makes you miss the vampire prostitute incident,"

"Hey! you can't hold that against me, she promised to literally suck me dry, how was I supposed to know.."

The pair laughed and continued on, tell stories of less crazy times.

When they had arrived at the temple they found that a service was ongoing, there was a good amount of people but clearly this place was meant to hold many, many more, the priest as passionately retelling a story about the God of Earth, when they came in, they silently walked towards some empty chairs and sat, away enough from others but close enough to the exit to run if anything happened.

"Where are we supposed to meet him?"

Zesshi's question was exactly what he wanted to know and he was glad that the talking was drowning them out,

"I have no idea, maybe he is among the group?"

They looked around to try and spot the form of the Sorcerer King, which was a little stupid when he thought about,

"You'd think a seven-foot-tall skeleton would be much easier to find haha"

Just as he said this, everything stopped, quite literally,.. stopped, the world seemed to just freeze as if something forced them all to sit still, Zesshi immediately took notice, she stood fast and looked around, her instincts telling her something was amiss,

"What's wrong with them?"

"I..I don't know, what's happening here?" his heart was running amok now, he was scared by the possibility that they were trapped by something, and Zesshi cut in as she observed the outside,

"it's not just here, it's everything, everyone is stuck it seems, they're all frozen"

"There's no need to worry"

The voice petrified both of them, and they would not venture to dare ignore it, they both spun towards where it had been heard and from the very air itself, as if manifesting form from nothing, the Sorcerer King appeared, his body emanating absolute power, his red flames fixed upon them and Raymond would have commented on how out of place it seemed that he just appeared out of nowhere if he wasn't busy being scared out of his fucking mind right now.

'_holy shit, holy shit, holy shit, holy shit, holy shit, holy shit!'_

He was freaking out, and while his breakdown was in progress Zesshi seemed to have composed herself somewhat enough to ask what was going on,

"What,... what's happening here, why are they all just stuck like that?"

she half squealed half asked, but regardless he knew she was terrified.

"Oh, that's nothing to really bother yourselves with, I understand you wanted to speak to me in private, so I stopped time to ensure we would not be bothered at all"

As he spoke those words a small part of Raymond calmed down, knowing it was the magic of the Sorcerer King,

'_Oh, okay, that makes sense'_

As he calmed down the meaning of those words caught up with him, he freaked. Despite all his training, all of his life and death situations, despite all this he could not control as his body lurched when he yelled, his eyes nearly popping out of his head, with all the force his lungs could muster, yelled in absolute disbelief,

"YOU CAN STOP TIME!"


	20. Chapter 20

**AN: HELLO EVERYONE, I'm back, and I will be attempting to cast today the Susuga Tier Spell [Aplogy for Missed Week: Tripple Release], they should come out within a few hours of each other and then I will most likely get back to my regular schedule until we finish the story, please comment and review and thank you all for the support.**

**Chapter 20**

"YOU CAN STOP TIME!"

The shout was absurdly loud, and Zesshi saw Raymond immediately bring his hands to his mouth as if trying not to disturb the motionless crowd surrounding them, for more than obvious reasons they did not seem perturbed at the very least by the outburst and he brought his hands down slowly remembering the ludicrous situation they were in.

Zesshi herself couldn't quite think straight, which she deemed acceptable, this whole situation was beyond thinking or even really believing, but here they were, and while it was all still fresh, a very casual reply was heard from the Sorcerer King.

"Oh, yes, I can"

The answer was more than just unimpressive, it was mocking as if this entire situation was plebeian to this being, this god, and Zesshi couldn't help but just slump down on a nearby seat, her mind completely out of rhyme or reason to try and make an excuse for what was happening. when she finally accepted the truth, she broke, she had a sickening madness building in her wide eyes as they peered through her fingertips as she held her face, this quickly descended into tears as she hysterically laughed at this whole joke of a situation.

'_What the hell is this thing, that's just plain unfair'_

Zesshi knew that number two from the Black could alter his flow of time, but his ability came from his weapon, [Sliver of Kronos] and its power was to make the user faster while simultaneously slowing down its target to a certain extent. It was a neat trick and when applied in single combat it could be seen as some form of time manipulation but in truth, it was just a much more powerful version of [Flow Acceleration]. She knew he took pride in his ability just like the previous user of the weapon, but ultimately if someone was fast enough they could manoeuvre around his speed and just end him there, just like the previous user of the ability. She knew he had never faced a sufficiently powerful opponent, in secret she was waiting for when he would try it on her to break his little pride over his trick.

But this right now, this wasn't some trick, none of this made sense unless she believed what the Sorcerer King was saying, and for everything she was, she was trying really, really REALLY hard not to believe.

Zesshi had known a lot of beings with absurd levels of power, many of which she now surpassed and would look down upon, some of them could move as quickly as the wind, or strike hard enough to shatter mountains, they had powers which could amaze even her sometimes, but nothing was as laughably ridiculous as literally stopping time, what did that even imply, and how long could he do that for, was there even a point in trying to fight something like this?

'_He could just end a battle before it even began, how do you fight that?!'_

"Can... Can you actually stop time?"

Her question was weak, the delivery soft and the answer she didn't really want, but she asked anyway,

The skeletal mass of divine power and majesty looked her way, the flames of its eyes probing why such a question would be asked, and she breathed softly knowing the answer before he even said it,

"This isn't really all too difficult, it's a rather simple tenth tier spell"

Raymond for his part was still freaking out, and at the mention of a tenth tier his sporadic movements just died down, and he too slumped at the nearest chair, which he missed and landed squarely upon the floor but he didn't seem to mind at all, and the usual hilarity of such an event was lost upon the current participants.

"umu,... while this is all too entertaining, I presume you wished to speak to me about more than this?"

The question was seemingly more of a command,

'_Get your shit together, you're wasting my time!'_

and it seemed to drive them out of their daze and momentarily return them to sanity, it was the tone which led her to think that there was more danger in wasting this being's time if that was even possible for an immortal undead with the ability to stop time itself.

'_Is that even possible?'_

Regardless of the specifics, she most definitely did not want to know, it seemed Raymond was smart enough to not wish to hesitate too much longer as well, but his knees were fighting the gravity of the situation as he stood. He cleared his throat so as to speak with some manner of respect and dignity, a credit to his determination and she thanked him for it.

"W-We did your majesty, events are transpiring which I have taken some personal aversion to, and we have information which we believe would be useful to you and would like to offer a trade of sorts"

The Sorcerer King's flames dimmed some as he spoke

"Oh, a trade you say, please do go on, what are these events?"

"Raymond again cleared his throat and began to speak,

"Not too long ago we received information that there is a horde of Beastmen heading towards the Dragon Kingdom, I presume to destroy it in retaliation for past grievances. While I had initially petitioned to have this information presented at the next summit meeting, my fellow Cardinals sought out to conspire with the Elf King to utilize the chaos of this event as a means of distraction to attack not only your kingdom but eventually the rest of the summit participants as well."

"Ahh, that is indeed interesting Cardinal, but I already know all of this"

The air immediately shifted,

"...W-what?"

He continued to casually amaze them,

"I know about the Beastmen invasion, I also personally confirmed it not too long ago, and I have planned accordingly, this is not news to me,"

Before Raymond could continue a skeletal hand waved him to shush

"I had predicted the Beastmen invasion quite some time ago, it only made sense considering their nature as a powerful nation, as well I also anticipated that your Theocracy might try to use this obvious distraction to make a bid for my territory, your ideology would certainly agree with this assessment thus it would be opportunistic to strike hard while I am away. in addition considering the events of the past day concerning your relic and the Cardinal, it would solidify this course of route, and it seems my suspicions are correct, now what I do not fully know, is why you are here, speaking to me. You mention personal aversions, should I take that to mean you not agree with your fellows Cardinal?"

The revelation that this being had apparently already anticipated all of this was hilarious, and Zesshi could not help but just laugh at how stupid all this was turning out, not only were the people she thought she could trust backstabbing her but they were doing so on the hope that they would win a war with a being who was a thousand steps ahead of them. Zesshi couldn't help but just laugh more at the slight bit of justice in all that, she also knew that the laughter was drawing attention to her, and while she didn't like the eyes of that all-powerful being solely on her, she couldn't stop herself,

"Ray, what's the point, he's already anticipated all of this, everything they think they're so smart for trying to do, which means even now the rest of them are just dancing on the palm of his hand, I bet he even knows about Momon, so what's the point?"

Raymond seemed to realize the same thing, and he again looked to be trying to find some way out of this, he was racking his brain for a plan, something and Zesshi was honestly too fed up for any more cleverness, she had enough,

"You're not going to try and smart your way out of this Ray, it's pointless"

She sighed as she resolved herself, years of life had taught her important things, and while she had always won, she knew when it was time to admit defeat. So she looked death in the face, and while she hoped it was more figuratively she knew this could be the literal death of her. Raising her head to find that he was already meeting eyes with her, fear crept its way back into her soul but she tried her damn most to at least appear strong, though she suspected it didn't seem like much to this thing, she most likely just looked like a bug squirming when noticed and he was deciding whether to swat her or not, nevertheless she persisted to speak.

"We came here to try and feed you information to save our nation, but I guess that's all moot now isn't it"

"I wouldn't say that at all,"

The response was a surprise to them both, and she sprang back to life, sensing some sort of hope,

"What!?"

"While you are right that I had anticipated this turn of events I still do not desire to destroy your nation, my plead for peace was genuine and it is one that I would still like to preserve,"

He looked back at Raymond as he continued

"I believe I told you and your fellows that during the summit, though clearly most did not listen, in my eyes peace is an eventuality in this world. One that I will work tirelessly to ensure, in this manner I commend you both for coming to speak on this more peaceful of paths,... however it is a shame the same could not be said about the rest of your delegation,"  
The words were like an oasis in the distant desert and hope was springing back into both of them, Raymond was slowly standing, picking himself back up,

"But understand, while I have no intention of destroying needlessly, I will not show mercy to those who would conspire to bring ruin to those who have trusted their lives to me, this will only confirm to the others that you can no longer be trusted in any manner, thus even if you are left alone of exposed the Theocracy will not fare very well at all, the actions of your council have permanently tainted your reputation thus,... Cardinal, would you be willing to make a deal?"

"Yes, yes, of course,"

Raymond's response was immediately

"Excellent, now, before I explain, there are some questions I have for you,"

He pointed directly at Zesshi and she could feel sweat slowly dripping down her back,

'_oh fuck, oh fuck,..'_

When she routed her courage she responded,

"W...What exactly is that,.. sire?"

"Firstly, please remove your mask"

She did as asked, bearing to light her heterochromatic eyes,

"Ahh, that makes sense, and I presume then, you have some relation to the Elf King?"

"Yes,... He's my father"

She would normally not hide the hate that went with those words but she did not really feel his being deserved to overrule the danger she was in,

"Interesting, and tell me, how would you like the opportunity to finish the fight you had earlier?"

* * *

Lakyus was having a relatively peaceful time within the wondrous realm that was Nazarick, her and her sisters had done, eaten, and enjoyed things which could only have been made by the gods themselves, and she was just on the border of declaring herself a heretic and pronouncing Ainz Ooal Gown a full god. They had spent the last few hours learning how to play something called Lazer Tag, the weapons issued looked completely strange and foreign her and her sisters. They were called guns, and they apparently fired some sort of invisible light based projectile towards the opposing player and when it makes contact with the armour they were given, it would alert them that they had been hit somehow and were designated as dead within the rules of the game. The entire thing seemed overwhelmingly strange and Lakyus could not wrap her head around what sort of devices they were holding or how they operated, she had tried to ask the attending maid, they retorted by telling them that it was just light. This had caused them all to assume it was a form of magic but when they were assured that no magic was involved the confusion was even more intense.

Keeno seemed adverse to the things at first, untrusting of how they would function, but when they saw that not only was it completely harmless but it did function as foretold, they found themselves trying to at least give it a chance. That chance had turned into a complete slaughter courtesy of the twins, stealth and movement was their dominion and they far outclassed the rest of the team in those categories, and even Keeno who was using her vampire senses and speed was not agile enough to escape the twins when armed with the laser guns. It had gotten so bad that during the previous matches Garagan, Keeno, and Lakyus coordinated to kill at least one of the twins so as to feel some form of accomplishment, a task which they accomplished only several times to be quickly ambushed by the other and her winning the entire game.

"We go again!" said Keeno in a fit of hot rage, she clearly was not happy losing, very much not happy

"Give it up shorty, we suck at this" Garagan was not in high spirits either, and Lakyus could not help but loathe the gleeful expressions on the twins, they had each won a similar amount of games by now, and this next one might help break that tie,

"These things are amazing if they shot anything lethal they would be devastating in combat"

Keeno seemed to have calmed somewhat from the situation and she was carefully examining her gun, the item was strange, very light and it made a strange buzz noise when the 'trigger' was pulled.

"You think so, seems like a crossbow would be better"

Garagan's retort was flat, it was a question and not an actual position she held

"No, Keeno is right, this thing is extremely easy to use, simply point and shoot, imagine if it could fire an arrow bolt at this instantaneous sorts of speeds, you could effectively kill anyone by just being nearby, and with no magic preparation it could be done without the other person even knowing it's happened"

Tia and Tina were looking at these items like a gold mine, Lakyus could understand, as assassins being able to kill someone from a distance almost instantly with no extra work was a dream come true, but she also could see how this could lead down a very dark and cruel road.

"If that were truly the case It would be too easy, you could arm any peasant with this and in a matter of minutes they would be able to kill even us, that seems unfair"

Lakyus's examination gave them pause, and they thought about all the training and hard work they had to endure to reach the level they were at, being Adamantite level was obscenely difficult, not many can or do reach the level and it would indeed be unfair for a random individual to be able to easily kill them without much effort, the notion seemed ridiculous, but they had no time to think more.

"Pardon the intrusion," A beautiful maid was walking up to them slowly, a cheerful smile on her face, she continued,

"Your presence has been requested by Prime Minister Renner and King Zanec,"

The mood shifted as they realized their fun was ruined, the outside world just had to come calling and interrupt their happiness but this at least offered them the ability to ruin the streak the domination the twins were enjoying.

When the Roses had appeared beside the King, they took to quickly access the situation.

Facing Renner, Lakyus asked,

"Are we escorting you back to the summit conference chamber?"

"No, we are going to the Throne Room, his Majesty has requested we all gather, It seems things will be getting interesting,"

Lakyus didn't fully understand the meaning behind those words, she knew that Renner and Zanec had met with the Sorcerer King yesterday before the Slane Theocracy had asked for their religious leave, a strange situation altogether but one that the Roses did not mind as they were able to spend more time exploring the wonders of Nazarick. But Renner's tone seemed to indicate something else was afoot.

"Is this in connection to the summit itself?"

"No I don't believe so, The Sorcerer King had made some grave predictions concerning the Slane Theocracy and the Elf King, predictions which unfortunately came true, and it seems this will be a meeting to see how we are to deal with that reality"

Zanec's words were confusing,

"What were these predictions?"

"Ultimately that the Theocracy would betray everyone and incite war"

That caught everyone off guard, this was a complete turn from the peaceful intention of this entire event,

In all seriousness Lakyus had actually been very invested in this summit, she had learned a great deal from the single day's meeting alone, on matters of thought and action, and finally getting her answer from the Sorcerer King on his view of life had deepened her respect and adoration for the undead king. She also was very interested in seeing or perhaps even helping with his plan to create this Utopia, she had discussed the matter with her sisters at length and they all were of a similar mind, they too longed for a kinder world were all inhabitants were somewhat equal, where fairness out ruled the lust of the powerful and the greed of the wealthy. Everything in her understanding was pointing to most of the delegates looking in the same manner, despite the obvious stupidity involved with the rantings, and actions of the Cardinal of Wind, she believed they all were of the same mind.

And so with the ramifications of this new predicament began to dawn upon Lakyus, they made their way towards the Throne Room,

Just as they had been told she did not see anyone from the Theocracy present, interestingly the Elf Kingdom was also absent and Lakyus made clear lines within her head, an idea of what would follow. Yet she could still not fully rationalize why, it seemed foolish, and she was not inclined to believe the Theocracy would incite war without thinking. As she pondered over the matter, more delegates arrived, with the Dragonlords being the last to take their place, two of them deciding to remain in their full forms, which despite the massive size of the dragons, seemed rather small in comparison to the truly massive throne room they were in.

She saw from the corner of her eye that the Dragonlords were seemingly busy deliberating amongst themselves, and whatever it was they were talking about it seemed relatively important, she gave a sign to Tia and Tina to try and pick up on it, just out of curiosity, she knew the twin's had ears like hawks, and could read lips to boot, though dragons were a different matter, within some time they leaned in and reported back.

"Seems to be something about an expected event, perhaps this but not sure on the full context," whispered Tia,

Just as they were about to continue, the doors behind them opened, and it was at that point that everyone dropped to a knee out of respect towards the entity entering the room. Lakyus had started to be extremely intuitive on the mannerisms which those around the Sorcerer King would take when within his presence. His followers were zealous, they bowed extremely deeply and she knew it was out of absolute respect and adoration for their master. She had seen and heard them interact somewhat with others and none of their egos displayed at all when within his presence. This assessment seemingly extended to the both Bloody Emperor and Renner as they were also deeply bowing, she could understand why, their stations in life were secure, their power near absolute by virtue of their servitude to the Sorcerer King. This caused Lakyus to be mindful of her own mannerisms, was she also changing to fit this mould, perhaps working for him would do the same to all of them. It seemed regardless of who it was everyone would, after the initial hesitation of his person, adjust to see the Sorcerer King in a very glorious light, taking time to truly understand the majesty he carried, all would show reverence towards this undead king, and considering the power, wisdom and awe he inspired she reasoned this was just the right course for any sane person to take.

She calmed herself of useless questions as he ascended the stairs to sit upon the large crystal throne, she figured that whatever was happening, they were here because he wished to explain some facets of it.

Once he had seated himself upon his throne, he called for them to rise, which everyone did accordingly,

"Dear friends, It seems there will be more to do in the days ahead,"

The words were a little bittersweet, and for a few moments a part of her was a little giddy about the prospect of being seen as a friend to this supreme being, this quickly dissipated as the leader in Lakyus knew that whenever anyone said words like that, it was because things were not right, and she was careful to listen now.

"As we discussed, The Theocracy has moved against us, my earlier predictions have been proven true, during their requested time they sought out and spoke with various members of the temples and orchestrated a plan for the taking of E-Rantel, they were seen roaming the city scouting various sights under the guise of a tour by the temple high priests, it seems they plan to covertly make an attempt at holding E-Rantel hostage."

'_... what?'_

Lakyus was at a loss for words.

"That's the stupidest idea I've ever heard in my life"

Whispered Keeno behind her, murmurs of agreement following from her other sisters.

Lakyus was dumbfounded and agreed, on the matter of strategy, it was always important to be advantageous in where you position yourself, what lands you hold and what places you take determine victory. While it was true the Sorcerous kingdom was small, its power was not to be underestimated, the idea of taking the very seat of the Sorcerer King's power might seem intelligent but when one considered the living nightmares which patrolled the streets, the various groups of adventurers who now held loyalty to the Sorcerer King, and Momon, the idea was ludicrous, a deathwish a best and a madman's dream otherwise. this was beyond what she thought was going on.

'_By why hold the city?'_

'_Are they betting everything on the love the Sorcerer King has for his people?'_

Lakyus knew very well now that the Sorcerer King valued even the least amongst them, and for a being of his power and calibre it honestly spoke volume to her, but she also knew as a king he had to be pragmatic in how he deals with threats, would he bow to even the Theocracy over this?

Lakyus looked over to her sisters and could see that they were looking back at her, they all had similar levels of surprise and stunned faces, this whole turn of events was insane.

"Momon has confirmed with me as well that they approached him with a plea for aid, I had instructed him to accept, and they revealed a portion of their plan to him. There is to be a multiple stage attack, something to take us all by surprise, and while we are unable to respond, give them strategic superiority. As we discussed using the Elf King and the powerful escort they are making an attempt on your castle to gather powerful artefacts from Yggdrasil in order to have the chance to destroy the biggest threats, namely myself, my loyal guardians, and you Dragonlords."

This was the first bit that made any form of sense to Lakyus, though she was still sceptical on how they would obtain such weapons, from the summit she learned that these items from Yggdrasil held tremendous power, and the only places she knew where there could be a myriad of them would be within the Great Tomb of Nazarick under the care of the Sorcerer King, or the floating Palace of the Eight King's of Avarice, guarded by the Platinum Dragonlord.

'_Doesn't seem like that will work either way'_

The dragonlord spoke up at this point,

"So It seems you were correct, I am awed by your foresight of such matters Sorcerer King, if they are to launch an attack upon me to try and steal the King's weapons, then I shall hold to what you recommended earlier and allow them to take them."

Lakyus was slightly confused if they had already discussed all this before why let them take the weapons?

None of the leaders seemed surprised by the developments, and Lakyus was not sure what to think of all this, but she reasoned if they had everything under control than it would be better to simply speak with Renner later to get updated than to sit looking confused the entire time, but a question arose in her and while she did not wish to speak out of turn or be disrespectful her sense of justice needed to know,

"Your Majesty" She had meant to sound much more composed, but her voice broke midway and she resolved herself of the looked which were now upon her.

'_God damn it, get it together'_

She took a deep breath as the Sorcerer King bid her to continue,

"Sire, I,... I wish to ask, do you plan on destroying the Elf Nation and the Theocracy as retaliation?"

She praised herself for her courage, and an answer followed,

"In a manner of speaking, yes"

She felt her heart sank just a small bit before he continued,

"I have no wish to kill the citizens of the Theocracy, they are blameless to a degree, what I do wish to destroy is the ideology of superiority which is ingrained within them, to that end, you can say I will destroy them with this war, but rest assured, while it may be changed they will not be gone, there are,.. sensible individuals among them"

'_One of them defected?'_

She wished to ask more but she knew he might not be inclined to reveal any more information in this manner, more importantly at that moment she felt as if a hole was being burned into her by the Prime Minister, she was staring at Lakyus, with a slight beastiel glint in her eyes, the smile was there, but her aura made it clear she did not appreciate the interruption, and so Lakyus, decided it was time to shut up.

* * *

Once they had been given leave from the Throne Room, Dradillon, Jircniv and Renner quickly reconvened to discuss what was about to happen. Renner had promised to explain more to Lakyus once they returned to their temporary living arrangements, and had asked the Roses to allowed her time to discuss with her fellow vassals before they planned for their own actions.

Once this had been taken care of the three prime rulers of the vassal states came together. They had asked the maid to allow them a tranquil place to speak and they had been taken to a place called the _Sakuranbo no Yama_. It was an isolated hill with a small waterfall overlooking an ocean of pink floating petals, dancing eternally to some unseen force, the air blew gently and smelled pleasant, Renner found herself again questioning how such a wondrous world could exist, but knew nothing seemed impossible for her master.

Once they had been given time to adjust to the sight, they were served a sweet smelling tea and they began to discuss,

"Every time I believe I have seen everything in life, something else in this place appears and destroys that notion,"

Jircniv looked on with a bit of wonder in his eyes, and Draudillon nodded her head as she brought the teacup to her mouth.

"I am also beyond mystified by his Majesty, truly,"

It seemed the only one among them who was any form of surprised about the developments was Dradillon and Renner felt a ping of pity for the poor women but she knew that she would come to learn very soon about what sort being the master they now served was, they hung onto the moment for some time.

"They've really doomed themselves haven't they?" the Dragon Queen's question was reflective,

"Yes they have, though, to be honest, I think his Majesty is being very kind to them considering everything they are trying to do with this little plan of theirs"

Renner agreed with Jircniv's estimation, she would never dream of disagreeing with her master's actions but she too would have brought her full wrath down upon the entirety of the Theocracy, there would be no mercy on her part but she was also trying to think on what sort of grander plan her master would have for saving them at least in part.

"Perhaps his Majesty is looking forward into the future," Renner's comment caught both of their interests and she began to lay out what was within her mind.

"He is creating a forever grateful and changed nation, imagine it, this event will cripple the Theocracy beyond measure, and with the scorn of its neighbors, they will not have any help to recover soon, if ever. As our master said, their ideology is centred upon being superior to everything and everyone, when they lose this war, and we all know they will"

There were nods of approval at her words,

"It will shatter that dogma, the survivors will be bitter towards the circumstances which lead them to such despair, and if his majesty comes in to become their saviour then not only will he change their mindset about the undead but perhaps even demihumans in general. We need only look at the Northern Holy Kingdom for an example of this, it's a strategy which has already worked before, and with someone sensible like Raymond left to take control, their nation can be salvaged at least to an extent, our master can effectively have the leadership present his ideals to the masses, and turn them with a trusted face coaxing the change, it's brilliant."

Renner was extremely proud of herself for being able to piece together something which could at least shed some light upon their master's plan, and the smiles she received from Dradillon and Jircniv seemed to prove that they too saw her interpretation as correct and they were impressed.

Their master had not spoken too much about what he viewed as the future of the Theocracy but they had known from the beginning that should anyone be of use, it would be Raymond, as well his propensity to transform nations for his purposes worked much better with someone like him in charge, as it had with Renner.

"By gods, I think you're right,"

"Indeed, that is just like our Lord, wow,"

Draudillon brought her hand to her chin before speaking again,

"Do, … Do you think he planned for all of this,... the invasion I can understand it makes sense considering the nature of the Beastmen, but everything seems to be falling right in line with everything he says, and his Majesty's actions only point to him having prior knowledge of events, he was too prepared to receive the threat, too prepared for the Theocracy to attack, he turned us against them to drive them into a corner and this war will not earn them any friends allowing him to be the only one to be able to help them."

"You may be right Queen Draudillon," said Jircniv raising his teacup before sipping it lightly and continuing: "I learned quite some time ago that it is foolish to stand before his majesty and try to manoeuvre around him in any manner, it's utterly pointless. I believe that if this is all coincidence it just shows how well our Lord can alter and be flexible with his plans, and if he did plan for all this than it just goes to show the truly godly nature of his Majesty. Either case is enough for me to know that he is worth following, and doing so wholeheartedly."

The responses resonated with everyone, it painted a very accurate description of their master, and Renner was really pleased with the idea, she knew that it wouldn't matter as well, and it seemed she was not the only one who thought so,

"Well the future seems very bright for us then, I am more happy to be a vassal now than ever, not only will my nation be defended but the benefits just seem to keep piling up, …. how do you think the others will respond?"

The question was almost redundant, Renner knew what choices they all had, and for those true to the Sorcerer King, it was not a choice at all, those like that girl, the Saint of the Holy Kingdom,

"They will fall in line, there is no benefit to being in the way of the Sorcerer King, not when he offers his friendship earnestly first, and I believe the Dragonlords understand this, they know they have not the power to stop him, and they seem to even enjoy his ideals and his personality, a trait which makes our lord even more terrifying. His charisma, his intellect, his wisdom, and even his kindness, are all transcendent, to those who cannot see that, then perhaps death is the best outcome."

Renner's words were sharp,

"Are you inline to believe that he is a god, like that girl in the Holy Kingdom?"

"it's not just her, she has amassed quite the following from what I understand, and there are many other places her order has spread to, I am in fact in the works of establishing a temple within Arwintar, but some have already appeared in the Empire"

Jircniv responded before she could relay her thought,

"I too am inclined to believe, I have never been one for the gods, not the four or the six. Too often they become tools to control the less fortunate and less educated masses, this, in turn, feeds the pockets of some very wealthy priests. However, there is no denying our master, if ever a god existed, then surely it is he, while it is still a dangerous time for the Re-Estize Kingdom when we have managed to stabilize, I too wish to invite Neia Baraja and her band into our nation,"

Draudillon looked contemplative, but she nonetheless spoke,

"I have lived a long time, and I have seen the rise and fall of gods and their worshipers, even we dragons have our gods thus I am hesitant to admit to believing but after everything I have seen, perhaps it is so."

"Dragons also have gods?"

The question was one that Renner herself was curious about, she had never heard of dragon gods before, in fact, she did not know if most demi-humans or heteromorphs believed in any gods themselves,

"We do,... If you would like I can tell you a story my grant grandfather would always recite to me, of the creation of our world,"

They both nodded in the affirmative and drank their tea as she began,

"Well, in the beginning, there was nothing, and from that nothing came god of light, Bahamut and god of the eternal dark, Tiamat...….."

They listened as she continued, three monarchs in their own rights, old rivals and past enemies, fast becoming friends drinking tea under a wonder world of roseate pedals.


	21. Chapter 21

**AN: I know she's the Pope, Shes's my Pope, She's your Pope, She's our Pope, praise be, but I wanted a unique title**

**Chapter 21**

Neia awoke with an optimistic premonition for the day ahead, things seemed just a little brighter than usual today and it was a refreshing feeling. She made it a ritual to always gather herself early to make a quick prayer before she set out for her day, this not only reinvigorated her drive but also filled her with boundless excitement about spreading the word of the one true god of this world, and today was no different.

Stretching her muscles into some use she took sometime to freshen up and found herself reminiscing on all that had occurred, it was somewhat funny to her at times, her life had changed drastically, turned almost upside down after the resolution of the war, a lot had happened, and the majority of it was just plain stressful.

Where she was just some normal squire a few years ago, albeit one with a particular set of skills, now she was at the centre of the largest religious revolution in the history of the Holy Kingdom, if not the world and was in charge of overseeing the growth of a God's influence, something she took extremely seriously, Neia had witnessed first hand what it was to be powerful, to be absolute, what it was to be a god. These facts had forever stamped themselves into her being, they had changed her and she was bent on changing the world, letting them all see what the truth was, what justice was and despite some setbacks, everything was going extremely well.

After making her bed she decided to leave the morning meal for after she got to her office, she had a few notable assignments to handle, with Bertrand reporting somethings he marked as urgent and she was not in the business of being late. Her dressing was faster than normal but she still knew better than to skip out on properly looking over her attire to ensure she fit the part of the mighty warrior and most importantly former squire of the Sorcerer King, and when she was satisfied she readied herself to leave.

After winning the war with the Demon Emperor Jaldabaoth,

'_Well his Majesty won really'_

The Holy Kingdom and Neia had become extremely busy, when the Sorcerer King left, he had entrusted the rebuilding of the Holy Kingdom to her, and while it was true his words were more than likely metaphorical words for the work to come. Neia had taken them to heart and worked extremely hard to ensure that the reconstruction of her nation was proceeding accordingly, but she would also ensure it would have one added feature, the worship of their saviour, the God of Justice, Ainz Ooal Gown.

The majority of the work was going smoothly, roads were all but rebuilt thanks to various efforts by local builders and the dwarf experts the Sorcerer King had brought on. Food was all but being handled now that the undead rental market was established and farmers could more easily grow and harvest, and the past few had been fruitful with yields that were helping them get back on their own two feet, this effort was immense and she was more than grateful to all the people who had taken to the task.

There was no shortage of volunteers to be gathered and be put to work, and while some of the more pressing tasks they had handled very early on such as rebuilding the various fallen and destroyed administrative and important buildings within the capitol and the like. It was the harder task of orienting the now colossal working machine towards important goals that proved difficult for her. She had received overwhelming support from the common people, many of whom had nothing of note and found themselves given purpose and reason in helping her, many also turned towards the path of justice after having attended her sermons to hear more of their saviour.

The nobility, however, was a different story entirely and at large had not and still was not being as generous or as open to her handling of these tasks. Part of this was the help she was getting from the current Holy King, Caspond was always very open to almost anything that she brought before him, they had a relatively close working relationship and she could tell it was something which displeased a lot of the nobles at court, many of them were southerners who had come up when the war was over, they along with most of the south apparently did not like how much the new Holy King was supporting Neia's new religion. While most of them accepted the official reason, which was that Neia acted as a mediator for the aide which the Sorcerer King was providing their nation, some thought he was a supporter and worshipper himself, and so there were some rather unsavoury rumours about them both.

The other part was the fact that someone of note was gaining prestige over them, many of the common people looked to Neia and her followers as the true leaders within these hard times, and they sought them out for various matters before considering the nobles. Something which Neia knew hurt their pride quite a bit, but those who had suffered tended to stay together, and this was not made easy by the migration of southern workers and the southern commoners who took the tenets of the strange new religion as a major threat.

Neia had once awoken to find that the building they were using to house and loan out the undead had been vandalized, someone writing "House of Evil" along the side, in blood no less, funny enough because the materials used to construct the building was mainly from the Sorcerous Kingdom and was enchanted, cleaning the words had been comically easy. Bertrand had suggested they station some guards outside of the complex considering people were now willing to come close and he feared something more would come from the situation and thus a form of guard had been created out of a dedicated group of her followers.

Overall the North had a myriad of these distribution centres now, they were made exclusively for the rental of the undead his Majesty provided, and Neia's overall role was to supervise and lead this operation, as well as the self proclaimed task of spreading the influence and reach of the God of Justice as far and as wide as possible, both things were working out very well for her,... well they were now, in the beginning things had been extremely complicated and with the changes mandated by Caspondearly on things only got worse for a good amount of time before they got better.

The setbacks at times were minors, a few organizations would not trade with Neia's group or would purposefully hold out materials and things of the sort, simple matters which would be resolved when brought to the proper authorities. However the most major amongst these setbacks, was the backlash which came from Remedios' demotion and subsequent early retirement, something she and a few of those extremely loyal to her took to heart. In their rage they decided those who saw the Sorcerer King in a positive light were enemies of the Kingdom and acted to take vengeance on surrounding villages and settlements for months on end, in the end the violence was so severe that the Kingdom had no choice but to seek help and had hired the adventure team Blue Rose to come and aid in stopping her.

The events surrounding the '_Fallen Paladin's Rampage_' as it came to be known had become legendary, Remedios was not a being who could be taken lightly, her strength alone made her dangerous and her reluctance to hand over the Holy Sword of the Kingdom only added to the trouble. Remedios had taken almost immediately to targeting explicitly the worshipers of his Majesty, and while there were several strong members of Neia's order, they were duly unprepared and many had died to Remedios' rage before any real resistance was had.

Once the Blue Roses arrived the killings were relieved somewhat and a concerted effort was made with the new captain of the Palladian Order, Gustav, to hunt down and bring Remedios to justice, a journey which had brought Neia, the Roses and Gustav closer through shared frustration, near death battles with a superhuman crazy woman, and several nights of heavy drinking. Everything had been going well until the southern nobles had made political blockades in court for funding the operation and the Roses were almost forced to leave, luckily Neia had requested some aid from her God and almost immediately the money seemed to pour back in.

The group's original mission had been extended sometime after they were given extra payment by the Sorcerer King to stay, find Remedios, and subsequently, do some extra work for him and Caspond after the ordeal.

All in all it had taken seven major battles, nine hard months, fourteen burnt villages and countless of lives brought to ruin to bring Remedios down, and even as she died, her body rendered almost unrecognizable, she still stayed cursing every one of them for worshipping the undead, the sight of this fallen hero burned itself into Neia's mind. She swore then to always remember the sunken look of evil present in that terrible woman's eyes, the death she wished to unleash upon the world and learn from it, Neia had become harder because of it, but that was required, tough times create tough leaders, and the aftermath of the event had her believing that the South had been supporting Remedios the whole time. Something she had suspected for quite some time but could not fully prove, regardless, all the dead that were left in her wake was a testament to the true evil evident in this world. Despite this they had won and in a cruel trick of fate she had been presented with an awkward situation when they had been receiving commemoration for their actions that she had been called to name her order and could not, it was this and council from the Sorcerer King that had finally given name to her and her followers.

The Sorcerer King had once called her his Promethean Knight, and the name stuck, and thus after days of deliberating they were officially branded the Prometheans, a group which would bring the fire of the true God to those who were left behind and abandoned by dead gods from old.

It stuck quickly and people seemed to love the idea that they were knights of the Sorcerer King, his influence had boomed after these events, partly because people recognized that Remedios was wrong in her hatred and her wrath had opened a lot of eyes and given Neia the platform she had needed to convince those who had been on the fence, as well as provide counter evidence to those who scorned her ideals.

When everything had been resolved, The Blue Roses had remained, their contract being extended again to help found and rebuild some villages in accordance with a request from Neia and her followers. It was also during this time that apparently news spread that the Re-Estize Kingdom had fallen into a bloody civil war, the King had been killed and some very strange figures were vying for the throne in place of the rightful prince, Zanec. The Roses had had a tough time being still when all this was going on in their home country but they resolved to complete their contract with the Holy Kingdom, and return to help.

Lucky for them by the time they had finished with their business in the North, not only had the Sorcerer King gone to help the Kingdom, but apparently things were looking up and very quickly Neia was getting reports of the growth Re-Estize was experiencing, something which only affirmed her belief that anywhere her god went, true peace would follow, so long as people at the top were willing and able to accept the wise counsel and teachings of a god. Neia was at times disheartened that her own work could not be so immediate, but she knew that when the time came, she would present this reformed nation to her god, as a testament of her devotion and admittance of her cleansing the sins they were guilty of for so long, the sin of being weak.

This snapped her back to the present, Neia had been walking at a casual pace along the streets remarking on the quality internally and surveying for what portions of the city they could focus on next. She would be leaving to survey some of the outer settlements to the East in a few days and needed to lay the groundwork for what she would try and implement first so the people there could continue unhindered, it was in this train of thought that a building came into view, a large one but it seemed off, and she knew why the building itself had been purpose-built to be extraordinarily simple.

It was a single story but very wide, taking up a good amount of the surrounding land, nothing about it was to be extremely remarkable and for very good reason, her god did not enjoy anything too flashy, and her people, in turn, understood that to be effective they had no need for extravagance, only strength and devotion, and thus this translated into every work which would be called theirs. The standard Promethean temple was dual purpose, in the back was a large open area with various types of training arenas present, these allowed for people to strengthen themselves in body and in spirit as penance for their sins.

The only way to cleanse oneself and be worthy of the salvation given to them by the God of Justice was to be strong, strong enough to protect themselves, their families, their nation, and most importantly their ideals. This meant that every day they were to practice, whether it be with sword, or axe, or bow, or even bare arms. They poured blood, sweat, and happy tears into becoming stronger than they were the day before, to be less sinful than they were the day before.

Oddly this translated well for many common people who had been more than just helpless when the demon invasion had come and the promise of strength through rigorous exercise strangely drew many people from various walks of life to her order, they came with open minds and eager bodies to be washed and be reborn anew. The rest of the building was even more plain, monotone brick with windows every now and then to allow light, inside was a space for prayer, a simple open hall for meetings and food where those less fortunate few and the homeless or strangers would be hosted nightly to eat and receive blessings and teachings from the knights present.

It was then that a sigil came into view, one which Neia was very proud of and a small smile came upon her face, it was a black descending flame breaking through gray clouds in the sky with a single hand reaching upwards towards it, the symbol of the Prometheans. As she drew near she heard the sounds of swords striking steel and laboured breathing, the sound of those dedicated few practising in the back.

The God of Justice had many followers and it was a fact they all had differing schedules and other obligations which ate away at their time, so to ensure everyone would have the proper amount of time to dedicate themselves to service and prayer, the training arena was open all day and all night. The Sorcerer King had provided them with the resources to ensure every temple within the major cities and settlements had ample structures with the spell [Continuous Light] built into them, it gave every corner light even in the darkest nights, and it was here Neia was greeted by a normal sight, several members were being instructed by a senior knight, they were working on proper bow string placement, as well towards one of the corners one of her attendants working tirelessly to improve his sword swings.

"Roburt, Hello"

The man stopped mid swing and looked in her direction, realizing who it was he hurriedly pick himself up and rushed to her location, bowing respectfully and causing those others in attendance to note her and also bow in place.

"Good Morning Saint" he said respectfully,

Neia blushed whenever people called her that, but it was something which was bestowed unto her when the Sorcerer King had officially recognized the Order of Promethean Knights, she had been granted the title of Saint, though she still did not fully know what it meant.

"You don't have to address me as such Roburt, Neia is fine"

"I would not disrespect our God such,"

Neia sighed giving up, Roburt was a very dedicated and focused man, he had lost a lot during the war, his mother and father were gone, his children had been unlikely enough to become food for the demihumans and demons during their capture, torn screaming to pieces before him, all this had broken him beyond repair for a very long time. When he had been rescued he was a nothing more than a shell and had contemplated suicide for a long while, it was on his way to do just that that he heard the sound of salvation when Neia was giving one of her sermons. This moment had changed him inside, even just a little and he could be found within the crowd each day after that when she went to preach when everything had ended, he had been one of the first to join her. Roburt had been a great help in everything which had occurred in the past few years, it was thus this and his personable nature which earned him the blue patch draping over his left shoulder. His rank was that of a Knight Commander, and he was one of three who oversaw most of the operations within this particular temple.

Neia had realized quickly that they would need to establish a structure within her religion in order to ensure it was operating properly, and this end, she her close advisors and with some help from Gustav had created an organizational chart, with herself as their Saint, Knight Commanders, Knights and those who just joined being devotees. In order to ensure the fairness and equality which her god demanded, everyone was still equal, this was nothing more than a system of seniority to ensure messages and schedules would be met.

Ultimately each member was responsible for themselves and their actions, and no abuse of any kind would be tolerated, each Knight Commander was selected by means of a vote by those knights present and the devotees would earn their status' as knights after a specific period of time, to ensure no one was mistreated. With the vast majority of worshipers being knights, they were charged with all taking care of and maintaining the temples, they would each rotate who cleaned and cooked and would scout those with gifts in healing to become temple healers, as well some would go on pilgrims to heal wayward travellers.

The Prometheans also had the strict policy of not charging for any services they performed, in honestly it was more because they did not need to. With the money they received as middlemen in the rental of the undead, which was more than generous on behalf of their god and support given to them by the Sorcerous Kingdom, they had plenty in the way of supplies and resources, something which had royally pissed off the traditional temples of the six gods. Along with this affluence, they were all taught in accordance with their religion to read, write, and basics in botany, medicine and other such skills, this built a very capable and effective force. The order was built to be self-sufficient at its core and It was not uncommon to have some of the more distant settlements to be made up entirely of Prometheans.

"Is there anything pressing for me today commander?"

Roburt straightened himself and delivered the daily report, on what sort of supplies they've gone through on the shifts, the number of sick healed, what they would need for later as well as any important messages they had received, once he was finished she thanked him, he bowed again and returned to his training.

Neia was happy when things didn't happen, because it meant there would be no surprises, and with her normal brief out of the way she made her way towards her office.

* * *

The office she had been given was a lot for her to take in at first, it seemed out of place for someone like her to have anything like a formal office space and she had complained on more than one occasion but Bertrand and the others insisted that as the Saint of their order she required a place to work and meet with dignitaries of various other organizations she was always forced to leave the subject alone and accepted it as it was. Every time she came into it she gasped a bit, and honestly she was always put back a bit, all she needed was just a small space to look over mail and reports but instead, they had taken things too far just for her. The entire space was still relatively simple but it carried with it a majesty that spoke to her power in the organization. The room was sizable and had two large and comfortable couches situated at obtuse angles on either side of an ornate wooden table, all this was adjacent to her desk, a large low wooden desk crafted by the dwarves, it was a gift from them to her exclusively and it had some very interesting runes written into it which sometimes filled her with a strange strength whenever she was speaking with especially stubborn people. the chair behind it was made of a sturdy wood reinforced with metal, it was not anything expensive, she saw to that, but it was still very gilded regardless, and it gave her an air of authority as Bertrand liked to remind her,

"With the way the room focuses on you and the strength in your eyes, no one would dare think anything less of our Saint" he had said to her all smiles.

She had asked for a small selection of books be placed on the left-hand side, this was to mimic a room she had seen in her god's domain and she sometimes pretended she was sitting in his council and the thought of being close to that all mighty of beings made her heart skip more than just a few beats.

Neia took to her seat, took a deep breath, and unrolled a scroll which had been waiting for her on her desk, it was something of importance to her, and brought a happy smile to her face, It documented the number of devotees who had entered into the faith in the previous quarter.

'_We are almost doubled from just a few months ago'_

She was extremely happy to know that more and more people were taking notice of their message and were responding to it, and while in the beginning, she had some few tens of thousands in her fold, she now lay claim to almost one million believers spread throughout the North and all of them, seeing the light of truth, and seeking to repent for their sins. this number was even greater when she considered the members outside of the Holy Kingdom, it was rumoured to be in the high millions consisting of all manner of humanoids, demihumans and heteromorphs, but those official numbers she did not have.

A small knock at the door interrupted her thoughts and she quickly bade the person to enter, Neia felt safe within this space and but had also made efforts to strengthen herself. part of this was daily practice to extend the amount of mana she had in order to be able to heal herself multiple times should anything happen, the gifts she had received from the Sorcerer King had saved her many times over in her life and many thought her almost impossible to kill, a legend even developing that she had been granted immortality for being a devout follower of his Majesty,

The entity slowly made itself known, a gauntleted hand parting the door as a familiar face made its way into the light,

"Gustav," She said with a happy expression, standing up to bid him welcome before he broke her rhythm by speaking out loud.

"Presenting his Majesty, the Holy King Caspond Bessarez"

The revelation was surprising and Neia made way to move to kneel when the king entered before Gustav again spoke out,

"And his Majesty, The Sorcerer King, Ainz Ooal Gown!"

There was silence as those words left his lips, and Neia was mid-stride when her eyes dilated immediately,

her mind racing as she proceeded what was just said and she found that she had been taken by shock and could not move.

She was frozen

Unmoving as Caspond entered and quickly made way to allow for the next monarch to grace them with his presence, his steps were disciplined, and very respectful, he wore a small smile as if basking in pleasure at close to her god.

As Neia forcefully removed herself from examining Caspond, she felt the air shimmer and the light dim, from the shadow of her doorway a tall figure moved into partial view,

Its majestic gait was self-evident, fulfilling the requirement which only one being could meet,

Its posture was absolute in its confidence of self and the air of divinity surrounding, it's body only added to the awe which this moment birthed.

It was then that Neia's vision seemed to blur some as more and more detail came rushing into her brain,

she fought to keep herself from passing out as she noted the beautiful obsidian robes the being wore as if cut along from a single cloth.

No seam or evidence of any seamstress work could be seen, the robe was ever present, it simply was and at its centre divided to show a brilliant glowing orb.

This was an item which was created, in single purpose for this being alone, and only to exonerate further the glory in which it bathed the world.

The cloak of darkness and night shielded the world from his brilliance, reminding them all that they were not yet worthy of such a presence and the pure white bones exposed at its head and hands seemed to shine with the morning sun.

Its slight red hue giving the figure a golden halo, it's head, nuzzled tightly by the eternal dance between darkness and light made way for two powerful blazing flames.

Within which could be seen the very essence of life and nature of divinity and power, as if those flames were stars which could gaze beyond eternity itself,

and it was thus in her dumb-founded state,

without the capability to make proper words, with no mind for the recollection of decorum,

gawking aimlessly at the majesty which was before her,

that Neia in her childlike reverence broke down in tears and she stepped beyond the bounds which held her still and sought to touch the form of God.

"My God"


	22. Chapter 22

**AN: Triple update No Jutsu complete, Eat that atheist, though he's put out like 15 chapters since I've been gone and started a whole new story, so... Bugger this man's work ethic and charitable efforts. These last two chapters with Neia have half been a cheeky little homage to his works on my part and a break before shit gets real. I've got a few more places in the next chapter to hit (which might make this a quadruple release) before we get back to the hotpot of the plot. Thank you all for the get wells and I'm glad to be back amongst believers, too many people in the outside world know not of the Glory of Nazarick and the last of the Supreme Beings, Lord Ainz Ooal Gown.**

**Chapter 22**

Ainz always enjoyed seeing Neia Baraja, she was at first a very scary presence in his time in the Holy Kingdom, but over the years she had not only become one of his most persistent supporters but her dedication to him even made Albedo like her, something which could not be said for a lot of humans. He also admired her in a way, her leadership and organizational skills were self-taught, she did everything on the fly, and learned along the way, he had witnessed her grow from a nervous squire with barely any backbone to strong leader, and that was part of the reason he had come here personally, as well as avoiding any unnecessary questions from the guardians following the Throne Room discussion.

It was not often that they got to interact, and with how she had taken it unto herself the responsibility of trying to piece the Holy Kingdom back together, she was even busier than he could imagine, and considering she was still human she still needed to sleep and eat, could feel exhaustion, soreness and pain, he wondered how she did it all. It was something of a motivational piece for him whenever he was getting bogged down with his own work, and while running Nazarick was extremely stressful he knew he had the complete trust and command of all his servants, something she would have to earn and strive towards with her people, yet she had done all that and more. It was all these factors that led him to name her Saint, anyone who could work this hard and this much for someone else was worthy of the title, it also made her sound cool.

Before he left, he made sure to send word to the Doppel-Caspond that he would be making an impromptu visit, the being had been beyond terrified something was wrong, Ainz had to reassure him several times before he could end the message. While Ainz knew that his servants were always careful, they sometimes went too great of lengths to please him, he disliked how much they tried to pamper him.

Thus after bidding Albedo a long,... very long farewell, he opened a gate and arrived just outside the gate at the royal palace in Hoburns.

The palace itself had been lightly modified and put almost completely back together, the gardens were being worked on still and there was much to be desired in the way of pomp and stance but it was still a palace by any means.

Ainz had only been here once so he chose not to move around too much and waited until a panicked paladin in fancy armour came running up to him, the paladin was Gustav, the new Captain of the Order. He had been very helpful during the demon incident and Ainz knew he had a good head on his shoulders, but more than that he had been a shield between Ainz and that crazy woman, Remedios.

While Ainz considered Neia to be scary in how she looked, he knew Remedios had been terrifying in her character, and for whatever reason she hated Ainz, it irked him somewhat because he had spent a lot of time back then trying to get her to like him, and all he got for it was dismissal comments and obvious scorn. When he learned of how she had apparently gone insane and was killing civilians who worshipped him the feelings had turned from general contempt for her character to hatred, and he was not at all perturbed when she had finally died.

A twist of fate had occurred when Demiurge had asked to take hold of her body, revive her and have her work in his farm, Ainz had been questioning of what all that meant as he did not know what she would do with sheep, he wanted to demon to be happy considering all the work he did, and so approved of it.

'_Maybe I should visit her on the farm and see if she'd be willing to talk to me now'_

"Your Majesty, please forgive me for being so late and arriving in such a state, I rushed to ensure I could meet you and escort you to see the King,"

He spoke with winded breaths, and Ainz was considering telling him to calm down and take it easy, but he nodded appropriately and began to follow along at a casual pace,

'_I've got to make some manner of small talk right?'_

"Umu, How is the reconstruction Captain?"

Things were going relatively well for the Holy Kingdom, Ainz knew this already, Caspond sent frequent reports to him about the status of the North and the settlements they had set up for the Prometheans there, but he needed something to talk about and he also wanted to know what it was like from another's eyes.

"Things are looking up your Majesty, thanks in part to your help, of course, our people cannot thank you enough for not only freeing us but providing for our rebuilding efforts"

"Think nothing of it, Captain, it is my duty to help my neighbour when I can,"

"I believe the general populous feel the same, they look at everything as a fresh start and most are optimistic, the Prometheans have been a major help in handling those with little money or no family left, and the orphans are mostly taken care of. The only problems come from the nobles, we have some issues politically but that I believe is just tension that will be resolved with time, save for that, we are all doing better, well better than where we were before,"

There was a hardness to that comment, and Ainz guessed it was his own thoughts about the events that had transpired in the past few years, he felt for the man, it required a lot to hunt and kill your former boss. Though Ainz knew if he had been given the opportunity there were some supervisors he wouldn't have minded hurting back in his own world, while in this line of thinking he unconsciously responded to the man

"We strive to make ourselves better each day, we strive to outdo that which we were yesterday, hard times do not constitute bad times, and even though you are within them, look towards the morning sun. Your people are here, rebuilding, making the most of life, that is admirable, and it is to be celebrated. As for politics, they are eternal in that they will never cease to try and hinder progress, but you are a good man captain, do not allow them to harden you, continue to be who you are, stubbornly and you will see the change you strive for.."

The paladin had stopped for a moment, seemingly stumbling as he looked upwards towards Ainz,

"Thank you very much for your words your Majesty, truly"

"Indeed Capitan, as well to the memory of those who fell, work hard and become stronger"

'_Jesus I suck as this motivational stuff'_

The rest of the walk had been uneventful and it was not long before they arrived before the Holy King, Caspond had made sure not to be on his throne, meeting Ainz on the same level so as to never dream of forcing his master to bend the knee in any manner.

"Your Majesty, it is good to see you, what is the manner of this visit?"

"Likewise King Caspond, I have come here to speak with you and Neia Baraja, would that be possible?"

"Of course, I will send for her immediately"

"No, there is no need, I would love to tour the city and go surprise her,"

"As you wish my lord, I will prepare and we will depart immediately,"

The preparations were very quick and not long after he left Caspond returned, dressed in casual yet elegant attire, he called for a royal carriage and after some time a topless car wheeled itself towards them.

The car was a pure white with gold seams accenting it, the spokes were a black wood with silver bands reinforcing them and glowed with a hint of magic, the interior had a velvet green carpeting and the symbol of the Holy Kingdom stitched into the seats. The horses which pulled the car looked strong, it was a leg short from the sorts of carriages Jircniv had in his collection but it was reasonable for a king in a recovering nation and Ainz followed Caspond and Gustav as they boarded the vehicle.

They began down the streets and Ainz took note of the city itself, he remembered how everything had been when he had left with Shizu those years past and the change now was notable but nothing too dramatic. He was happy that they were getting their lives together and as he passed street vendors and other merchants setting up for the day, he noticed a general look for solum determination, interestingly enough a few he passed had the Promethean sigil painted or drawn into their stands, the busy vendors had some varying coloured lapels with the same sigil upon them, denoting them as knights of the Promethean Order.

Ainz had an understanding of how they were structured, with those at the bottom being given black lapels to denote their commitment to the Order and receiving green lapels with a sigil embroidered in varying colours to denote their status as knights and what they specialize in.

He was honestly impressed by the whole thing, those with skills in finance and mercantilism would have white embroidered upon green, those who were warriors would have black embroidered upon green, mages and healers had a gold embroidering. This classification system he thought appropriate for when one needed a doctor or sought out protection or a friendly merchant, it made them easy to identify but also easy to target. He also understood they were all committed to strengthening themselves and he had made an effort to ensure some degree of their safety by marking down the price for rune-crafted gear when it was sold to members of the Order. Thus it was a common sight to see some rune-crafted weapons or familiar armour as they rode past the streets.

Very quickly people began to notice the car and its passengers, and considering Ainz had worn his normal gear to this visit, he stood out quite a bit, as they moved through the city people would notice and kneel, some would shout and call to Ainz and other still began to follow behind the car, presuming to know its destination. Soon a small crowd was not too far behind them and Ainz was getting nervous about having to appear godly to these people.

'_Come on man, can't I get just see one person?'_

The self-pity would earn him no fans as they began to approach their destination, the Promethean Temple, for all they were the Prometheans were efficient, and Ainz had learned this was because they believed him to not enjoy any extravagance, a sentiment he internally did not agree with.

It was not that he did not enjoy indulgences, he just had no way to experiencing them, otherwise, he would indeed indulge in some… notable offerings. (An: Albedo)

As well having the glory of Nazarick, Ainz did not find anything outside of his domain to be worth his time, it simply did not match up to his standards, and so he prefered plain sights and efficiency.

As he exited the car a host of people were quickly approaching and he decided better to get in now and speak with Neia than to risk an encounter with a group of particularly overzealous members. They quickly entered into the compound, following Gustav as he led them through the maze towards Neia's office space, Ainz internally noted all the interior features of the temple and found that he was rather very proud of what they did, while he had some aversion to being thought of as a god, he was happy to know he inspired some people to act better towards one another and treat others with dignity and respect.

When they walked into the training grounds Ainz heard a particularly burly knight instructing others on how to aim and shot properly, he was passionate, to say the least, and he was being supervised by another in plate armour, with a blue lapel over his shoulder,

'_A,... Knight Commander? right?' _

When one of the students noticed Ainz she stared, doe-eyed, in his directed and shot off one of her arrows by accident, the bolt passing in between the legs of one of the other students.

"Hey! the hell are you aiming for?"

She pointed towards them and everyone turned their heads, and it was then that Ainz got uncomfortable, no one moved, they all just stared, it was a little creepy, before the commander shook his head repeatedly and broke in a dead sprint towards them, caring little for his weapon, what was in his way, or his dignity really, the others quickly followed.

As soon as they arrived, they all fell down and prostrated themselves before him, it was a little awkward considering their King was beside him but Ainz spoke anyway,

"Rise, my Prometheans"

They raised their heads in almost unnatural unity, staring up at him, he knew for some of them this was their first time seeing him in person, other might have seen him at official events but despite this most were crying, tears streaming down their faces from being in his presence.

'_I need to give them something quick before they just stare me to death'_

As he was stalling, looking for his words, those who were outside had arrived and they too quickly made to prostrate themselves before him, finding space wherever it was available, careful not to block their path about getting as close as possible to stare at Ainz. Ainz knew the smile on the Doppel-Caspond's face was genuine, he knew the general consensus most of Nazaricks denizens had of those of the outside world and was sure the doppelganger believed this to be the proper pose for these people. Gustav for his part did not seem disturbed at all, he just waited by the King's side, ready to protect him should anything happen.

In response to his nervousness Ainz's aura began to leak out as a bit of his presence flooded the area, it was nothing serious to him but to everyone around, they felt as if the very sky was bowing to this great god in the flesh, and his voice thundered around them as he spoke,

"This is truly a momentous occasion, I bid welcome to all those whom I have never met, It is a pleasure to meet all of you, I am the Sorcerer King, Ainz Ooal Gown!"

hushed sounds of amazement filled the silence between and more people were now crying, Ainz wanted to cry too, all this was just too much,

'_I just wanted to visit a friend' _he bitched internally before continuing,

"I come to look upon you all and see your growth, to hear of your accomplishments and take stock of your needs. I have heard far and wide of your deeds, your compassion and your strength and I am proud of you, all of you. Continue to strive to become stronger, strive to become better than you were before, to never allow others to determine your path in life and to have the strength to pursue and make reality your dreams. Treat each other and all living beings with respect, with dignity, and with compassion and you will always have my blessing."

Ainz did not think it possible for them to be even more doe-eyed, some were now literally bawling while staring at him,

"Now I must go to speak on time-sensitive matters, but soon I will return, and I will hear you all, I will know of your stories, and of your lives, your hopes and your ambitions and we will celebrate your accomplishments and your hard work. Continue to grow and learn, I bid you farewell for now"

Gustav got the hint and immediately moved to make way towards Neia's office, with Caspond and Ainz in tow, if Ainz had a heart, it would be beating like a racehorse right now, but his gait suggested something majestic to all those who watched him, speechless as they stared unendingly at their god.

Very quickly they came upon a door, and Gustav knocked and waited for permission to enter, he opened it and a familiar voice called out

"Gustav",

The paladin straightened at attention and announced the Holy King, who walked forwards and entered the room before continuing on and announcing Ainz,

'_I'm not sure that's proper as I'm the visiting monarch,... right?'_

Ainz walked past the threshold and was about to call out to Neia when he noticed that she was seemingly frozen staring at him, this continued for some time as she got teary-eyed and spoke

"My God"

He heard her say,

'_... oh she means me'_

He took some time to think of a proper response

"Hello Ms Baraja, it had been quite some time"

She quickly snapped and came to prostrate herself before him, bowing deeply and responding,

"My Lord,"

"Raise your head, please return to your seat, I have come to speak with yourself and King Caspond"

"My Lord I could not possibly think to do such a blasphemous thing"

Ainz knew where this back and forth would go, it was something that happened with the guardians all the time and so he decided to just accept it for now and take a seat on one of the couches, King Caspond for his part sat opposite on the other couch, and as if by instinct Neia quickly situated herself at the end of his couch, standing as if his squire again, the memory gave him a slight pause of reflection and he found the sight-pleasing.

"Your Majesty, now that we are all in attendance, so to what do we owe the pleasure of your visit?"

Casponds words were respectful, but Ainz could tell he was trying to not sound too respectful to keep up his act,

"I have come to personally invite you to celebrate the vassalisation of the Dragon Kingdom into the Sorcerous Kingdom, I plan to host it in a few week's time in my home,"

"Oh, is this in response to the Summit, I presume good news of peace follows than?"

"You are correct in part, the summit did indeed bear some fruit, we have established relations with the Argland Council State and talks of peaceful existence with them have been very successful, likewise the offer from the Dragon Queen for Vassalization. However there have also been some unfortunate developments as well, there will be a minor scuffle in a few days but it will be nothing that won't be resolved quickly."

"Dare I venture to presume it is with the Theocracy your Majesty?"

"Indeed, they have their part in this, but mainly it is the Beastmen to the East, they have launched an invasion of the Dragonic Kingdom and I will be helping to eliminate that threat in the days to come, along with some other minor things to include the Theocracy and the Elf Kingdom,"

The people in the room were, of course, curious, and Ainz could tell they wanted a bit more of an explanation, but he decided it would be better to speak on it in full later.

Seeing he was not going to get further details Caspond spoke,

"I see, while we were unable to attend the summit, it seems plenty has occurred because of it."

Caspond's words held a bit of sadness, Ainz knew the main reason why they did not attend was political opposition from the nobles in court, as well as reconstruction holdovers, but overall there were a few nations he did not believe would be required, but for the sake of celebration he wanted them all to come.

"Well my Lord, you may count myself among the guests, it would be my honour to be within your home" Caspond continued,

"Excellent, and you Ms Baraja," Ainz said turning to Neia,

"May I count on you and some members of your order to attend, you deserve to be rewarded for your hard work?"

She looked both overjoyed and startled,

"Your Majesty I would never dream of declining such an offer, and please excuse my arrogance, but you mentioned going to confront the Beastmen soon?"

"Yes, that is correct, they should be arriving within a day or so,"

She looked down and fidgeted with her hands somewhat, like a child asking her parents for permission,

"If it is not too much trouble my lord, may I accompany you, as a squire once more?"

Ainz had not expected this request, and he was a little surprised at her demeanour when asking,

'_isn't she way above that now?'_

"You are Saint of the Prometheans, why would you wish to be my squire?"

"It would please me very much to be around you again your Majesty,"

'_Really?'_

"Will it not affect your duties here?"

"No sire, I can easily have a replacement ready within the hour, and I require a vacation every now and then if of course, this is acceptable for you,"

There was an expectant look on her face, and she was very much trying to hide it, it reminded Ainz of how young she really was, and despite the scary eyes and armour, there was still a normal girl burdened with heavy responsibility in there, and understanding the need for a break he caved in.

"Very well, I presume this will not take too long in any regard, thus I would be happy to have you attend me Ms Baraja,"

* * *

The Dwarven nation had been happily busy since it's rediscovery and resurgence under the Sorcerer King, and while officially they declared themselves independent there was a general consensus amongst not only the people but even the Dwarven Council at large that the Sorcerer King was, in fact, their ruler, an opinion many of them took with pride and honour.

It was this close relationship with their past saviour that had turned the dwarves from a near-forgotten piece of history into an economic and scientific powerhouse of innovation, wealth and prosperity within this new world, under these circumstances the dwarves were quickly reaching a golden age reclaiming pride which they had chosen to keep buried for centuries.

Whenever any member nation needed the top quality items, whenever a member nation wanted the very best, they would contract the dwarves, and for very good reason. The work ethic and drive the dwarves had and the pride they took in forging, building, repairing, or upgrading anything under the grace of his Majesty was unparalleled. It was this fact that led many artists, would be builders, architects and inventors to seek out the dwarves for education and apprenticeships as it came to the arts.

After the Holy Kingdom had been ravaged by war, the Sorcerer King had contracted a great many dwarves to help them in building back their nation, a task they took on happily. The dwarves focused on providing the group work for their infrastructure and helped lead the training for the rebuilding efforts. This project had been extremely successful and in its wake many would become renowned masters of their craft, making the outside world take notice of the dwarves once again.

It was because of this resurgence in popularity and the influx of work and money that the dwarves themselves had not progressed much, they had yet to make any honest attempts to repopulate their former capital city, it quickly became something of a tourist trap and vacation spot as some would go to see the historical significance of Feo Berkana.

A portion of this situation was the fact many dwarves had even taken to leaving the mountain all together for better pay and more work elsewhere. They realized they were welcomed happily in the two human nations under the Sorcerer King, becoming teachers, forgers, and masters of crafts within the Empire and Re-Estize Kingdoms, creating guilds and small shops which would do specialized work that some had come to covet and many would pay a very pretty penny to attain.

While the dwarves sought to make coin and would charge a considerable amount of gold for some of their fine workmanship there was a notable exception in any work which involved the Sorcerous Kingdom proper. Because of the gratitude many of the dwarves felt towards the Sorcerer King, they would almost always work for free when it came to matters which the King himself had commissioned and they would take the undertaking with glee.

The Sorcerer King would be very reluctant at first to allow them to work for no wage and a compromise was made were the dwarves given compensation in the form of 'materials and supplies' usually meaning large amounts of fine wine and beer was provided, something which only served to drive their admiration for him deeper into their hearts.

It was this generosity and reluctance to take advantage of them from the Sorcerer King and the old dwarven tradition to worship only the earth that had allowed the Promethean Order to easily take root. The Order had a very large following amongst the dwarves, many considered Ainz Ooal Gown a full-fledged god, and that fact had turned to idle stubbornness amongst the people whenever anything contrary to this was mentioned before them. Some notable fights had occurred when adventures met other groups of people who were less keen to speak kindly of the Sorcerer King, and being that the average adventuring group from the Sorcerous Kingdom was Platinum, nearing Myrtil in rank, they had yet to record a loss.

Ironically because of the propensity for dwarves to leave the mountain to seek out adventure or wealth, the biggest issue which faced the dwarven council these days was one of population, they did not have enough people to populate even the cities they had much less retake older ones, and they were looking for way to make sure people were having enough kids to ensure they could continue their growth spurt, they had mandated that those who could should have as many children as possible and had sought counsel from Sorcerer King on what manner of incentives to give those parents who would have extra children.

The ideas he had provided them had baffled them all, much like anything the god spoke about, it was revolutionary and while the growth was slow, it was growth nonetheless. Would be parents were incentivised by alcohol, paid vacations, monetary bonuses, and of course, more alcohol, and this, in turn, gained the kingdom more children, and when they came of age they too would be incentives as such to continue the growth.

At times it seemed almost comical to them that when they gathered for their scheduled meetings, it was no longer the food crisis or the threat of the Quagoa which faced them but rather how to rapidly increase the number of dwarves in the world, a prospect they had not considered possible for generations after the death the last true dwarf king. Along with these 'issues' they discussed more often matters which regarded contact and dealings with foreign nations and this was one of those meetings.

The Commander in Chief was sitting in his usual spot with the now not so new Forgemaster sipping casually on a large tall mug of beer. That black spot in their past had been washed by the Sorcerer King and they had chosen to ensure the position went to a very worthy successor, the Commander in Chief himself had chosen to not indulge too much, cutting himself off after just three mugs of beer because he knew he would have to go back to duty after this meeting was done, but other members were more jovial in their consumption regardless of what work they might have, the only one of them who usually did not drink was Gondo who sat in his set seat towards the end of the table.

Because Gondo Firebeard had been one of the most optimistic voice early on when it came to cooperation with the Sorcerous Kingdom and because of his leading that great saviour to them they had given him an honorary seat as a member of the council.

The council had gone through some changes in the past few years, with two new positions being created to supplement the work they now had when it came to managing how much they were growing. A Master of Foreign Contracts, who worked closely with the merchants guild master was named in order to help with censuring where most dwarves had taken to relocating, and to ensure that they could have a dedicated dwarf in charge of dealing with developing contracts, deals, and opportunities related to nations which commissioned works or needed services from the dwarven kingdom. Because of the wide scope of duties, he usually required the second largest budget these days, second only to the Brewmaster, and his staff had quickly grown in order to cope with the amount of work they had.

The second was that which Gondo held, it held no functional name but he was an advisor as it came to matters concerning Rune crafted requests specifically as well as any matters regarding the new faith of the dwarven nation, his position as a High Promethean Knight Commander was evident of this as he led all the Knight Commanders who presided over the temples within the Dwarven Nation, his position being second only to that of the Saint of the Order who was his superior.

"So everyone is here then" spoke the Cabinet Secretary,

"We've all been here for a bit, you've just been too busy drinking to take notice" replied the Forgemaster as he continued to gulp down his own drink,

A round of laughter erupted from them, this jovial attitude had fast become the norm among them since most their problems were solved, and while the Commander in Chief was happy to join in the laughing he also knew that sometimes seriousness was required by leaders, and good times may not last forever,

'_Though I presume we have never really had dealings with a god before'_

The thought was a pleasant reminder that perhaps they would be in a golden age forever, and he thought maybe it may be time to retire somewhere nice and raise a family of his own

'_I hear the dwarven district in E-Rantel has been booming'_

"Well anyway, is there anything pressing we need to discuss, we can go through the line for reports"

The Master of Caves and Mines was first to report,

"We have our usual production schedule, the supervisor team tells me that the undead support system is going well, we had a cave collapse a few days ago because of a weak support beam but no one was lost and the undead were not destroyed under the rubble, once everything was recovered we mined the area and expanded, overall we believe we should be able to meet the quarterly production quota."

The Merchants Guilds Master spoke in response to this,

"I'm glad to hear no one was hurt, but I've got some bad news," pausing to take a hefty drink "we need forty extra units of iron ore for the next shipment to the Baharuth Empire, they requested an increase for some building project they have scheduled"

"WHAT, FORTY!?, we are already close to the deadline you can't expect me to just miraculously get that out of nowhere, and we need to survey the iron tunnels for our monthly safety inspection, that's a tall order, can we delay?"

The Master of Foreign Contracts spoke to that

"We should be able to buy some extra time, the majority of our contracts with Baharuth have always been on time. We can try to maybe sector the required units from another shipment, or take it from our own supply wares for this month and replace it later. I would rather not smear our reputation with late deliveries."

"I agree with that option" spoke the Cabinet Secretary and most went along voiced their agreement as well.

"Then that is what we shall do, take forty units from our stock and we can replenish it soon,"

"We will need to make a new route soon for the Re-Estize Kingdom's interest in trading with us, they wish to be able to use the western entrance to bring and take supplies"

"we can dig out some of that area but what city will they be making this route through?"

"E-Libera, it seems though E-Pespel would be a far better option"

"I agree, we can dig in a manner that allows for both options, just north of the tip's pass"

"That's a good idea" agreed the High Priest of the Earth,

"That rock is easier to reinforce,"

"very well"

The Merchants Guild Master continued "We have our normal supply coming in from the Empire for meat and grain, but perhaps when this new route is established we should divide the contract between both, I hear the price will fall again once Re-Estize begins to sell outwards"

They continued on speaking about administrative issues along with small details about where to place resources and trends for births the entirety of the meeting was very relaxed, drinking and casually speaking about important matters,

A loud bang reputed from the door, and they all were startled by the noise,

"By the God,.." someone spoke, once they composed themselves they called out

"ENTER!"

Almost immediately a very sweaty guard came rushing in, his bread a mess as she stumbled out some words

"a virhsd bord pha bus hagrti"

"Breath damn you, and cam down, what are you saying?"

the dwarf took several deep breaths,

"A MESSAGE FROM HIS HIS MAJESTY"

Everyone in the room immediately stood up, wide-eyed Gondo replied,

"Where is it, what does it say?"

"It's noted for the council like the last one,"

"Quickly bring it, it must be important for it to arrive in that manner, we need to see what it says"

The guard ran forwards and delivered a black square to the Cabinet Secretary, they had received something like this prior, but it was a notice more than anything else, the Sorcerer King had been inviting nations to a summit and he had sought their counsel on how to best approach the Argland Council State,

The cabinet secretary looked through the message quickly and recited it for all of them to hear.

_Dear Friends, _

_You are formally invited to attend a celebration in honour of the vassalization of the Dragon Kingdom into the Sorcerous Kingdom of Ainz Ooal Gown._

_This event will be hosted in two weeks time within the domain of the Sorcerer King, food, drink and entertainment will be provided._

_do you accept_

_Yes_ _NO_

"Like hell we would refuse!"

They all began talking one after the other

"I've heard that drinks inside his domain are even better than those in E-Rantel"

"I've heard that too, is it true?"

"Well now we have the chance to find out


	23. Chapter 23

**AN: My sincere apologies for the time between this and the last, I had needed the extra time to think about how to actually proceed forward in a concise manner, no need to publish chapters if they were going to be rubbish.**

**Chapter 23**

The city of Carne had exponentially increased in recent years, the once isolated, near-forgotten village was but a vestige of the past, and in its place was a sprawling cityscape, quickly on its way to becoming a metropolis.

Carne had been the test bed for many of the proposals which the Sorcerer King would go on to implement elsewhere, likewise due to the overwhelming amount of love and support for the Sorcerer King, the citizens of Carne were almost,... Fanatical, in their admiration for the undead king, easily accepting anything he said as providence.

It was thus how Carne had arrived in its present state, the city quickly outgrew the walls which had initially protected its innards, taking a lesson from E-Rantel, the governing council of the city, chaired by the esteemed Goblin General Enri Bareare, set about building a second set of walls to encapsulate and house all the various citizens creating a completely new residential area. The proposal had received great support from the Sorcerer King and he petitioned and provided for every member of the inner city to move to the newly created outer.

The building project had drafted dwarves, humans, the cunning Naga, and other races with architectural prowess to create a city layout which would provide the greatest quality of life to the citizens while still ensuring defensive stability.

The result had been a very quick and busy eight months of construction on the much wider and much newer residential area of Carne, and much of the famed inner city was eventually destroyed in order to build the new business, administrative and market areas, the wide space and central location allowing all citizens to have relative ease to the services provided.

The Sorcerer King had mandated specific amenities be placed into each newly built home to ensure both safety and convenience, all homes were built with the new magic powered pump system which delivered fresh water. This was both to ensure its availability when a fire occurred as well as to provide comfort with all classes of people ensuring people had readily available water to drink cook and bathe with. Of course, those with more could effectively purchase or enhance their homes to accommodate or show off more of their status but this measure and others ensured some of what the King called 'Basic Living Necessities' was provided for.

This change was one of many which made the citizens of Carne some of the most comfortable and technologically advanced in the known world. Because of the support they gave and subsequently received from the King, and the fact they were the technological powerhouse behind many of the products which came from the Sorcerous Kingdom, Carne's citizens were also among the most educated, having a high amount of artisans, architects, doctors of herbs and medicine, enchanters and other prolific mages, with schools and academies built to scout and raise up talents among the populous. Another growing field was that of Rune-Smiths, because of how much the Sorcerer King loved the art, dwarves had swarmed and refined the art, eventually leading more races to seek them out and become apprentices. While it was often difficult for others to grasp the concept of correctly scripting runes, some notable individuals seemed to have tailor-made talents designed towards the craft.

This wide array of scientifically and magically minded individuals had made for a very efficient and very progressive group of people, taking in and accepting a wider array of beings, regardless of background, on merit to the system and loyalty to the king alone, with the latter being the most definitive criteria. So important was their devotion to the Sorcerer King that among the sitting council was the Sorcerous kingdom's High Promethean Knight Commander, a high spirited demihuman named Sdi'Nravois Drin Va, a name which translated in the tongue of her people meant, Purple Spring Leaf of Destruction!

Carne's growth was not without its headaches and they mainly fell upon Enri to shoulder the majority of them, with most of the population looking to her as a sort of governess rather than simply the council chairwoman, too often her council members were too willing to defer to her judgment considering how often she met with and how close of a relationship she had with the Sorcerer King. Rather than simply working to count stock and engage in racial co-mingling, Enri now found herself directing and shaping the city as a whole, overlooking the passage of complex laws and ensuring all citizens were treated fairly. The establishment of a judicial system that would hold all races to a standard had been difficult and she had sought counsel with his Majesty in order to voice her ideas on the matter and learn about how a such a standard can be held by instituting the correct types of laws which favour no particular race. More so, she was riddled with honours and rumours of her strength and talents, the Goblins in the city guard and reserves never stopped singing highly of their esteemed general, and when the Re-Estize Kingdom had been integrated she was devastated to learn that following the war with the Empire, because of the disappearance of the five thousand men under command of the second prince Barbaro around her area, she had been nicknamed the Bloody Daughter of Ainz Ooal Gown, a name which her city guard had taken to calling her whenever new visitors or dignitaries went through the gate.

Thus this life of management had been stressful, today however was a special day, today was a peaceful day, one of relaxation, and rest

"IM GONNA GET YOU!"

'_At least it was'_

She said to herself resigning to the current situation,

"I apologise, I had hoped Steve would act better than this"

Nferia apologised to her guests,

Her husband's manners had not changed one bit and while he had grown into more than just a fine young man, having cut off parts of his hair so as to show off his eyes and more of his face, a change which in turn had sparked even more of a reaction from Enri herself, often leading her into lustful fits of passion where she would attack the man on sight.

It was one of these particular moments and the added stamina provided by Nfiera's potion work that had led to the over four hours of vigorous lovemaking which had gotten her pregnant with their first child, Steve Ooal Bareare, a child who when born was quite literally blessed by a God.

"Zagan is always like that when he meets someone with similar power, it never ends well for our house though, so my apologies ahead of time my friend"

There was a round of laughter as the gathered parents looked at the display,

At a small outside table arranged with an overhanging umbrella was Enri and Nfeira, they were hosting the Lizard tribes chief and council chair Crush Lulu and Zaryusu Shasha, the pair having brought their own child Zagan Shasha, the most powerful young magic caster of his generation.

The pair of parents had become quick friends after introductions from their master and when they had met again after the birth of Steve they made for easy support and a tradition of visits and eventual play dates had been established.

When it was learned that Steve had an almost supernatural affinity for magic the couples had decided to allow the boys to play once they were of age, something which came much quicker than any of them had anticipated, at barely over one year old, the boy could cast first tier magic and was quickly on his way to the second. Something which baffled all who heard it, thinking it could only be the work of the gods,

The Boys continued to amaze each other with little tricks and small spells, Zagan making sure not to use any of the next two tiers of magic which he already had an affinity for and Steve trying his best to attempt a second tier spell to try and burn the smug lizard look off his adopted older brother's face.

(an: adopted in this case is used to denote a person whom your family is really close with so you basically are treated like siblings)

"I heard his Majesty's Summit started not too long ago, apparently even the Slane Theocracy Came"

Spoke Crush Lulu

There were general looks of disgust, and for various obvious reasons.

The theocracy had been responsible for the deaths of Enri's parents and their ideology had come very close to wiping out the lizardmen multiple times in the past, this sort of thing was what fueled their hatred but they also trusted in the actions and meaning behind the Sorcerer King.

"I hope they fuck something up and incur his Majesty's rather, that's a quick way to get wiped out"

Stated Enri angrily, the rest understanding and hiding their own words,

"I'm sorry, they've just caused so much pain and suffering to so many and is it wrong a part of me hopes this summit fails, or they try something which exposes them for the snakes they truly are.

"No, I'd say that would be the best course of action, the Theocracy has been known to us for a very long time. There was a time when our people called other parts of this land ours, near tasty fish and other rich areas of harvest and it should be clear why that is but a memory now."

Crush spoke with sadness, her husband extended a strong hand to her,

"We cannot change the past, it is true that they had harmed us greatly in the past, but look at us now,"

Looking at Enri,

"Had they have not attacked your village, our God would not have had cause to save you and your sister, this beautiful city might not be standing today and your people would still be tiling the field and breaking your backs with hard labour."

He looked down,

"Had we not been where we were we would have never encountered his Majesty, and yes we tried to mount an insignificant resistance but in its futility it brought us together, and we have grown and prospered because of it, our lands now extend for miles, our population is large and fat, we have more than enough food and even sell it off for profits on machines and other trinkets our people would have never even dreamed of having. We have all suffered at the hand of the Slane Theocracy, but we have also prospered, much more than that suffering, and while I do not like them in any sense, I know our Lord has a purpose for them being there, for having invited them, and when it is all complete, I know it will only lead us to more prosperity, whether the Theocracy is a part of it or not, I will be fine with either"

'_He's definitely right'_

Enri couldn't imagine what her life would have been had anything else occurred, had she never been saved, had she never experienced hardships and stood by her faith of her saviour, had she not been reunited with Nferia for good, and been tasked with leading Carne. All of these things had shaped her into a capable leader, her city was something to marvel and behold and while she attributed it all to the Sorcerer King, she knew that her past suffering had led her to this place, to this happiness, and as she thought on the words, her husband spoke.

"You're right, of course, and I also believe his Majesty knows exactly what he is doing, regardless of the results, it will be in accordance with his will"

They all nodded and looked reflective until a loud boom interrupted them and thy reflexively looked towards their children.

In the courtyard of their home, towards the edge before the stone fence, the two boys were standing, facing away from them, just beyond the was a large black mark on the walls, the stones strained holding the force of whatever impacted against them.

"Zagan!"

Crush yelled out,

A very jerky yelp escaped from the two children as they slowly turned around, absolute glee evident on their faces, they were extremely excited, and both began a dead sprint towards their parents with hands up in the air.

"It was Steve, he cast a [Thunderlance]"

This news took them all by surprise as the kids arrived, excited and full of energy, Nferia rushed and picked up his son, twirling him around as he amazed over the accomplishment.

"By Gown, WOW"

Enri heard Crush speak with Zaryusu laughing along, Zagan quickly ran to his mother's side and pulled at her clothes excitedly,

"Mom, Mom, can I start using second tier magic now? Can I? Can I?!"

"YEA, I wanna learn more spells, can we please?" added Steve as he was slowly recovering from being spun

"Absolutely not!" affirmed Crush,

"Neither of you will be shooting off [Thunderlances] or his Majesty forbid, [Fireball] within the city, and look what you've done to your mother's fence"

As Crush began to reprimand the boys, they reflectively ran off and sought to continue their feats of superhuman growth elsewhere.

"Not even two years old and he can already cast second tier magic"

Nferia said amazed as he watched the children run off from the scolding,

"Indeed, do you think it has to do with his Majesty's influence?"

"I think so, he did bless both of them, and I think whatever he did, unlocked their uppermost potential, whatever the case, those two will rule the magical world in the future, I think they could even surpass that old guy from the Empire, maybe even one day cast seventh tier magic"

Nferia and Zaryusu were shocked at Crush's assessment, they had knowledge of magic and its tiers, something Enri was slowly learning about but could not fully grasp, yet even she knew that the seventh tier was the stuff of legends, mystical levels of power.

Enri ventured to ask,

"I know that's impressive but what does it mean?"

Crush and Nferia looked at each other, thinking of the best way to explain it,

"Someone of the seventh tier would be able to destroy all of Carne by themselves, I do not know of any spells of that tier but I know that Fluder Paradyne who was reported to be able to use sixth tier magic, is capable of defeating all the knights in the Empire by himself, if its true and our children will grow into even more powerful mages than him, than we cannot even estimate their capabilities"

Enri was happily impressed, the thought of her boy being so powerful made her happy, but then she questioned what her master was capable of,

"What do you think the Sorcerer King is capable of?"

The answer was much faster this time around,

"After all we've seen... anything!"

* * *

Slyvin was sitting alone going over mission plans in his shared room, he had been busy the day following their intended course briefing with Raymond and he quickly set to work on ensuring his team had all the relevant information. The majority of the Black was very black and white, understanding that the Cardinals had reasons for what they were doing, not caring for those reasons and proceeding to execute missions when told, this often made things easy for him as their commander it was their duty, after all, they were soldiers.

His job had been pretty easy, he called in every member who was currently with them as part of this escort pool and relayed what was going on, some had been excited about finally getting some action while others were a little pensive after their encounter with all the denizens of that tomb earlier on, and truthfully he didn't blame them.

They had been given rest for the majority of the following day as the Cardinals went about speaking with various groups of interest within the city itself and with Zesshi acting as an escort for the whole group. Slyvin had been saddled with the task of figuring out how to best organize his team when they do reveal themselves and began to take over the city. He had a relatively good understanding of the current level of adventures which resided in the city and while they would be a problem in large numbers he knew they were all much weaker than the Black when they had all their forces gathered and would be donned in full armour. Keeping this in mind he went about creating a plan for taking over beginning with destroying the undead once, something he was sure the majority of humans in the city would support.

'_I can't see all those people just being happy about the situation, and we all know it's because of Momon'_

It was obvious to him that largest threat to the operation would be the adventure team Darkness, everything he had heard of Momon placed him at a cut above the rest, and he was concerned that they would not be enough altogether or would waste too much time and resources trying to subdue the superhuman.

'_Should he be a non-factor however, this city will be ours in a matter of hours'_

Slyvin decided to stop stressing himself out, it was not good for his health, and nothing would change the future save for the gods will,.. at least he hoped so, in truth, he had an inkling that the Sorcerer King might be an enemy he would not want to face, and from his interpretation from how Zesshi was shaking in its presence, he knew it was at least very strong.

'_I've got to talk to her when she gets back'_

Great news had followed the return of the Cardinals, they quickly convened a meeting with those relevant to the mission and began explaining the days events, how the meeting with the priests had been fruitful and where possible points of entry for the rest of the infiltration force would be, information which Slyvin would file and combine with his own later.

After this Slyvin had quickly been informed that Momon would indeed allow them to take the city so long as no citizens were harmed following this he could almost hear the collective sigh of relief that the news brought and he himself was internally very happy that the force of nature would not be a factor for now.

The Cardinals went on to explain the next few steps,

"On our part, we will continue on with the summit as planned, the Elf King will use an excuse to not participate and will leave with Zesshi promptly before first light" Spoke the Cardinal of Fire

"During that time we will act accordingly and not make any rash moves when they eventually learn of the threat in the Dragon Kingdom we will also make our leave and smuggle you and your team using the priests here."

Slyvin nodded as he acknowledged his orders,

"We assume they will not attempt to gather too many forces as they will be pressed for time but it is imperative we strike when the undead is gone, we have already sent word for the rest of the Black to begin making their way here they will use the information gathered to enter unhindered, as well the rest of the Army will be gathered and march towards the city once you have it" she continued

"Momon had assured us that he will aid in advising the Sorcerer King to take some of the gathered forces and relieving some stress upon your mission, once the city is yours, hold it until our main forces arrive"

"Yes, Cardinal" he replied

"Excellent, now Zesshi, we know this will not be easy considering the Elf King but do you understand your mission as well?"

She had been silent next to him for this entire time, but she nodded in acknowledgement and the meeting continued,

As they went over other smaller details Raymond announced he will be leaving for the Earth God's temple for reflection and prayer, and before Slyvin could make comment for his protection, Zesshi volunteered to escort him.

'_Seems I'll have to wait to speak with her'_

The next few hours were spent busing around, and Slyvin decided to pray and meditate to strengthen his mental fortitude, he needed to ensure his battle spirit was calm, situations like this required focus and regardless of his status as a God-kin, he could be killed if he was not mentally in the moment.

As luck would have it he had not to wait long, The pair had returned much faster than he had anticipated, Zesshi proceeded to enter their shared room and remove her mask, seeming like the weight of the world was upon her shoulders, this was an unexpected and rarely seen sight, she was never nervous or anything of the sort.

'_This is my chance'_

"Zesshi, I wanted to speak with you and go over some things before your departure,"

She held her mask in one hand as she continued on removing her disguise,

"What do you want to speak about, my father?"

"Well yes, to some extent, I understand the details of your mission with him might make all this complicated,"

"Don't worry about it, I won't kill him before all this is done besides I get the Cardinals have their plans for the aftermath of all this"

"That's somewhat of a relief, I am curious however what they offered him to get him on board, regardless, it seems we will be at war….." he paused before asking his actual question,

"What do you think of the Sorcerer King?"

She froze, her breathing seemed just a bit off before she calmed down and turned to eye him, questioning,

"What do you mean?"

"I saw you earlier, in that Throne Room, you seemed to be shaking and made your distance, it almost seemed like you were afraid"

Zesshi's eyes continued to have their proving quality as if she did not trust his words,

'_Shit she probably thinks I believe her to be weak'_

Quickly trying to lighten the situation, Slyvin made a note before she could speak,

"Not to say you're scared of them or weak, I could clearly feel the power of those other beings under him, they seemed powerful and the vampire of course but at that moment the King himself seemed like nothing, almost like a void even though he is a magic caster. There was, of course, the magic he used to kill the angel which was unnerving but I just wanted to hear your opinion on the matter,"

This seemed to work somewhat, she at least responded to it,

"Ahh,.. well yes, he is unnerving, I… I couldn't get a good read on him, so.."

"Do you think we can win if we were to both fight him?"

Her eyes grew so large for a mere moment, it almost seemed like an illusion but as if a trick of the eye, they were normal again,

"I have no interest in fighting him, I could not bear him any children, he is undead after all"

Slyvin felt something to be missing in those words, her usual glossy ravishing look when she spoke about the mythical creature who could one day defeat and claim her, but he understood she most likely was just simply not interested. Regardless he quickly understood she did not seem to want to speak on these matters.

"Well there are those others in his service who might be strong enough to help you with that"

When his reply met no response so he continued,

"You know I have been thinking maybe after all of this I should settle down myself and finally have some children of my own,"

Zesshi looked a little pensive, she had something on her mind after he spoke those words and Slyvin was worried that maybe she mistook his words,

This is perhaps the first time he had ever truly been in such an awkward conversation, so much so he tried to rely on humour, a complete failure in the exercise.

'_How do normal people deal with this, it's so awkward, gods she's looking at me, fuck, fuck'_

"Listen, Slyvin"

Her tone was serious, a hint of actual concern in it, and that caught him off guard form her usual demeanour of not giving a fuck about anything, his ears picked up and he was genuinely confused and interested what would come next,

"Don't do anything stupid okay, it's pretty clear now there's a lot of people out there who are stronger than you, and I understand you have duty but when, uh," she panicked just bit afterwards and refound her train of thought: "if this goes wrong, stay safe, prioritize your safety and surrender, I don't want you dying on me like my mom did, over something stupid the Cardinals want"

There was genuine bitterness in those words, and Slyvin for all he'd known Zesshi, never really spoke of her mother.

Her father, she drove on and on about, how she would kill him, in what ways, and for how long he would beg, she had entire summary reports drafted for all the different ways she would, encounter, defeat and then torture the Elf King, but she never spoke more than a peep about her mother,

'_Maybe she's nervous?'_

An interesting thought for the most powerful creature,... well one of the most powerful creatures he knew of, but nonetheless he could now play the reassuring role and maybe clear himself.

"It'll be fine you know, we just need to trust in the Gods, I mean look Momon is with us now, with you and him, we can surely defeat the Sorcerer King, maybe even without these weapons from Eryuentiu"

He placed a soft smile,

Had any other woman been there, she would have pounced on this man in a second, his androgynous look and long luscious hair gave him the appearance of a very attractive man, but it was all lost on Zesshi,

"Those weapons will be useful if anything to gain more items for the vault, but regardless, I need to sleep, tomorrow will be the start of a few long days"

She said as she proceeded to remove herself from the recent area and retreat into her room

Being left there Slyvin felt a mix of emotions, it was clear to him that much was going to come from this, and perhaps not all of it good, but he knew so long as he followed his order and trusted in the gods, nothing would stop them, it was time to change the world, it was what he had been born to do, trained to do, killed to do, and what he longed to do.

'_So long as I don't have to fight that dragon butler, I think I'll be fine'_

_AN: The awkwardness in writing this was over nine thousand_


	24. Chapter 24

**An: we are back to that sweet sweet plot, I also have a quick plug for anyone who enjoys Discord, the community has a set up a discord server to talk about the fanfics and other Overlord related material, here is the invite for anyone interested in joining: **** /pps5cz**

**As well I'd like to thank everyone for the support and comments, please keep reviewing and I'll see you all on the next release.**

**Chapter 24**

Zesshi awoke early, her eyes taking in the pale bleak strings of light crawling from the street lamps to embrace her room.

She hadn't slept very well, but in all honesty, she really didn't need it, her biology made it so she could operate fine without sleep and her training had only furthered this trait, allowing her to be active for days on end without a reduction in her performance.

It was still very dark and her eyes, while relatively good in the dark, had yet to fully adjust they struggled to wrestle any loose beads of light as she stood to ready herself for the day to come. She halted and drew a deep breath, calming her already racing mind, and narrowing on what was truly important… Revenge!

Today would be the start of a long, strange, and exhausting journey of that she was sure, and while a multitude of emotions welled inside her, there was one which overtook them all, she was scared. This would be the beginning of a new life for her, and this mission the last which would be counted against Zesshi Zetsumei of the Slane Theocracy. She proceeded to slowly dress as she thought over all this.

She had never been in a world without the Cardinals, never experienced life beyond their influence and control, and if she was honest, it was mostly because she never wanted to.

Zesshi had known that past a certain age her abilities allowed her, if she wished, to easily leave the Theocracy without a hindrance, it was never a lack of ability which held her, it was a lack of desire.

She had been raised in the Theocracy, reared to believe their customs, taught how the world worked through their eyes, she had trained under their sight, poured blood sweat and tears into improving herself, failed and succeed all under the careful watch of the Cardinals.

Every generation of Cardinal came with them a certain difference, some of them had taken well to Zesshi a few even going so far as to become her friends, and those had been the ones who she most treasured, but more often they were of the sort who saw her as a weapon, and at times, a liability.

Yet all she had to do was wait, regardless of how they thought of her, eventually, they would all die in the end, with some rare exceptions such as Ginedine who had been a Cardinal for over fifty years now, many did not last past fifteen, old age catching up and taking them to their gods.

For all those who had been taken to disliking or disregarding her, Zesshi never cared too much, but for the few exceptions who made efforts to befriend or stand for her, they made her feel as if she belonged, as if she was family, until they stabbed her in the back for their own gain.

'_That's not family, it never was'_

But as the thought triggered the realization of who she would be spending the next few days travelling with, a new type of emotion surfaced.

Stemming from the very core of her being, white-hot rage filled her for a moment and she could feel her muscles tense wanting to crush something, more specifically someone. The image of an unremarkable condescending twat flashing before her eyes, and Zesshi made to race to prepare so as to not focus on this hatred welling within.

She attempted to reign herself in so as to not unleash too much bloodlust in the dead of night and reasoned to herself as angry as she was, waking up every sensitive member of the Balck was not very becoming of her and besides, there was a light at the end of this tunnel, a very, very, VERY, sweet light, and so long as she did well in this mission, that light would be hers.

At the remembrance of the promise she had received from the Sorcerer King, she let a small smile fall upon her and went about reaching for the exit in order to begin making her way towards the designated meeting point. As she turned the corner to found that Raymond was leaning against the shadows, waiting, no doubt, for her.

"Care if I walk with you?"

She smiled a little, his mouth spoke one thing, but the hand sign he was performing, twirling his index finger with another pointed towards his face let her know he didn't wish to be spied upon, and she amicably responded in her usual tone.

"Do what you want, I'm not your babysitter though"

"Fresh air is always good for the body, especially at my age"

They made to quietly exit the inn,

The outside was lacking in activity, there was ample illumination to see some few metres ahead and she was impressed by how many people were seemingly preparing for the day to come, hard-working merchants up early to begin placement of their stock so as to sell as much as possible.

"The people here seem really enthusiastic, heaven knows our own merchants could use the lesson,"

Zesshi said nothing in reply as they began to walk, she allowed herself to count out some number of steps away from the Inn and made sure to sense no one around before she spoke.

"What did you want to talk about?"

Raymond kept to the same pace and his body nurtural,

"Would you believe me if I said I just didn't want you being alone with that creep?"

She smiled wholeheartedly at the sentiment,

'_Family'_

"Ha, and you're going to protect me, Ray? At your age, you couldn't protect a head of cabbage from a motivated child"

He smirked at her comment, and reach out to give her a slight nudge on the shoulder,

"You know I didn't earn the third seat for nothing,"

"Yes, you earned it because I had to save you so many times idiot,"

"By the gods, how many times do we have to go over this, those vampires seemed nice,..."

They continued on in idle banter,

She had been instructed to report towards one of the more secluded back alley areas of the city, a particular section within the mixed district of the city, a place where humans and demihumans shared living residential space. Somehow this so-called back alley was still nicer than most areas in the Theocracy capitol, but she had become accustomed to seeing how much more progressive and advanced the people within the Sorcerous Kingdom were. Nonetheless, she was impressed by the care placed into ensuring everything was clean and maintained.

They walked silently along the path, passing undead guards and ever smaller collections of people until they arrived at a darker section of the street, quickly glancing to each side, she slipped to the other side and made her way into the alleyway. Raymond showing surprising dexterity and speed was fast behind her doing his best to try and match the inhuman speed she was capable of.

She quickly came to a clearing close to one of the walls, there she halted and surveyed the area, she could sense him, but not yet see him,

"He's here"

She said to Raymond, who walked forward and boldly professed, in a still quiet tone.

"Come out, we're here,"

Very quickly a figure darted towards him, Raymond had no time to react as a lightning fast fist became visible in the pale moonlight, Zesshi had heard him jump long before she saw anything and was already en route to intercept his attack.

She caught it quickly and silently but felt no malice behind the blow,

'_He's just being a dick'_

"You're late weakingly"

Spoke the Elf King, his eyes transmitting a clear perception of superiority, the comment irked her somewhat

"Was I weak when I made you beg to end our fight the other day?"

His body jerked as he pulled his fist away,

"You think you got any real fight out of me brat?"

"Good, I was worried that was all to the famed Elf King,"

Raymond, sensing the confrontation spoke up,

"Enough of the hostilities, we have a mission to complete,"

The Elf King eyed him before rolling his eyes and moving towards a particular set of stones,

"It's this way, we should be able to quickly set off from here, and the guards will soon be passing, so make sure you're ready, I leave with or without you weakling."

He walked off into the dark and once he was a good distance away, Zesshi turned to face her friend, Raymond had a small smile as he reached out and held her shoulder, leaning in to whisper in her ear,

"If nothing else, just remember what happens to him once this is all over"

"And all this nonsense will make it all the more worth it"

She smiled back and hugged him, surprise was clear as he hesitated and hugged her back,

"Once this is all over, things will get tough you know, you're going to have a lot of work to do,"

She said looking him over once again, his features seeming to have aged a decade from her comment alone.

"Yes, I will, but if nothing else, I think we'll make it out of this better than we were... I hope the Sorcerer King is true to his word"

"I don't think that kind of being is in the business of lying too often for no reason,"

She reassured him and proceeded to hug him once more,

"Take care of yourself, Raymond,"

"You too,"

She turned around to head towards the Elf King's direction, her body moving quickly in the cover of darkness, as she darted forwards she felt something crawl along her spine, something inciting a primal fear and she immediately halted, her head moving towards the direction of the top of the wall section to her left, she saw nothing, just empty space and the faint light of the city behind her.

She looked around once more and her mind raced to calm her down, remembering all she had been told.

'_Is someone tailing us?'_

She reasoned as much, it seems she would have some manner of insurance throughout this journey,

'_Looks like the Sorcerer King doesn't like to take chances'_

She thought this as she continued towards the edge, and jumped into the unknown with her bastard of a father.

* * *

Raymond had returned quickly and quietly, not making so much a sound, after readying himself he made his presence known and he and his group had left early so as to make a showing of their arrival at the royal palace. They were met with the Prime Minister in all her stunning beauty, her smile melting any cold which could have been present and all of them taking a half step to appreciate the welcoming sight they approached and greeted her.

Raymond was internally fractured, knowing he would be watching this facade from both sides and he felt at odds with everything he believed for a moment because he knew all the sins which were evident on their end. As servants of the Gods, such blatant betrayal in someone's home could be considered worthy of reproach and even condemnation, but likewise, he knew that all this was not news to the opposition, The Sorcerer King was all the wiser and he could only but lament the oncoming storm which would follow.

'_Perhaps the winds of change now blow at us?'_

As they followed the beauty towards the breaking in reality, he remembered his earlier assessment of the Sorcerer King, how naive he had been to assume that he could or they could together, outwit and outplay this undead being.

Raymond was in no way ready to forsake his gods, and he would look to this as a test for the rest of his life, a test of his metal and of his leadership. He would need to be strong to weather the tough times ahead but he believed that this too would be the will of the gods, that for them to live and flourish in this new world to come, he would have to abandon the old and rotting portions of his country, the sections which refused to yield or change.

As they passed through and entered the domain of the Sorcerer King, he momentarily took a step back to again be overwhelmed by the absolute magnitude and beauty of this place, as they entered the Conference Room he took time to truly appreciate it in its full glory. Considering his status the last time he was here, he was now open to seeing little details he had missed, the contrasted was evident, the gold, white, silver and black played on each other as if an artist was constantly beautifying them, reshaping and making them even more spectacular, he noted the ceiling, or rather lack thereof, above. The entire scene was lit with soft white light, the room curving to meet this point of illumination and the walls reaching towards it.

Little bits like the immaculate status of the chairs and the sheer size of the room were now dawning upon him and in this state of mind, he finally saw that perhaps this truly was a realm of the gods, if ever such a place could be.

The Slane Representatives, being one of the ones who chose not to spend their time within the tomb had been the last to arrive, and they were greeted to amiable smiles and unenthusiastic looks, Raymonds presumed that they knew to some extent of what was going on and were also in on this facade. Yet he knew his side would do their best to hold up their folly, as if to drive the point home, Berenice spoke up,

"It seems we are not the last ones here, when will the Elf King arrive, we am ready to begin"

Raymond mentally rolled his eyes, knowing full well what sort of game she was trying to play, and if it had any effect the Sorcerer King for his part seemed to go along with it,

"Regrettably it seems he has chosen not to be part of the summit any more, a delegation was sent late yesterday stating his intention to return to his country, he wishes us well but refuses to continue further stating humiliation and a lack of interest in the general topic. I am saddened to see such a valuable component leave in such fashion and I can only hope to strengthen our bonds through today's deliberation to ensure we can all come to productive and mutually beneficial compromises"

The words were met with general praise from his vassals and even the Cardinals seemed pleased that he was none the wiser.

'_Are we really this stupid?'_

Thought Raymond, marking on how easily his peers were being manipulated right before him,

"That is indeed regrettable, and we must again thank you, your Majesty, for allowing us the time to observe our customs, we are rejuvenated in spirit and would like to continue from now on in a fresh mindset,"

The Pontifex words had rivers of righteousness to them as if he was speaking from the heart and the gods were blessing his very soul for it, another lie which was a stab to the real tenets of their faith as Raymond knew them.

'_Is this how low we have sunk?'_

Raymond had been a student of history as well as war, he had a devout understanding of the world before and after the dawn of the gods. He could, like his fellow Cardinals, recite the stories and legends surrounding the gods, but he also had knowledge of the smaller more obscure legends about the six. He had ready about their ideals on philosophy and had taken the time to comb through and read what they believed about humanity and the other living beings of this world. It was this knowledge that led him to know that for a very long time, humans in the Slane Theocracy had co-existed with demihumans, the non-violent ones of course and had benefited from their specialised skills and abilities under the guidance and protection of the six.

The gods had instituted rules and laws for their people, based upon character and virtue, about being honest and not deceiving one's own self, but it did not remain, not fully, this had all changed with the rampage of the Eight Kings of Avarice and the killing of Shurshana.

The following years saw circumstances with demihumans take a turn for the worst as they became enemies to be put down, people became distrusting of their neighbours and the Theocracy became what it is today. A towering pillar for humanity, but a bane to everything else, and it seems the gods move through the Sorcerer King to fix all of that, to balance them all again.

Raymond had been lost to his thoughts as he considered the status of the Theocracy, this entire summit was giving him pause to think more about the place they were at. He had already seen on more than several occasions the results of the Sorcerer King's influence, and he had heard report about some of the situations within their neighbouring nations and for the first time he recognized that he could simply ask, and not rely on reports alone, a rare thing for anyone who wished to gather information and he figured why not, once this is all over, he will have to seek their aid, better to know how they are fairing.

The rest of the group had begun small deliberations on matters concerning borders and shared interests, Raymond interrupted this by asking a general question,

"Emperor Jircniv, may I be so bold as to inquire about the status of your country?"

The question had been asked in a particularly snarky tone, Raymond wanted to address him in a more reasonable manner but he was careful to not hide too much disdain so as to ensure his companions he had not turned coat, and for whatever reason, the entire gathering had not reacted, and for very different reasons.

Raymond was perceptive enough to see the slight smirk on Yvon's face, the man seemingly enjoying the fact that the other group had not recognized the small bits of hate in Raymonds voice, but Jircniv for his part also had a small smirk, most likely because he recognized that Raymond's tone was more meant to reassure the other Cardinals that he was on their side than any real malice. Nonetheless, they were all the wiser and Jircniv replied in a very naive and stoic manner,

"In what manner do you mean Cardinal?"

"Since we are to better our relations in the future, I wish to know the status of your nation's condition under the _care_ of the Sorcerer King,"

'_Gods, please don't hate me too much'_

Raymond thought this as Berenice gave him a quick approving wink, showing her support for his inquiry and efforts at misdirecting the group,

"Ahh, well if you have not already heard, my nation has exponentially improved since we have come under his Majesty's care, while I could make note of all the myriad of benefits we would be sitting here all day but I can make note of a few areas if you wish,"

"Please do" replied Ginedine

"Needless to say our infrastructure has seen a massive improvement, our roads are now enchanted and most of our building carry a special type of run spell which stabilizes our weather, when activated we can effectively restrict the types of weather we can experience. As spoken about before the Highway initiative had brought more trade towards our more regional cities, and they too have seen great improvement."

This was news to them, something like that seemed a little confusing, Raymond thought of something….

'_Actually, this entire trip we haven't experienced rain once not a drop'_

It was after winter thus the rainy season was afoot, yet throughout the entire few days they had been there, the weather had been the exact same, Raymond was fascinated by this.

'_Mass produced weather control measures, that's quite amazing'_

Jircniv continued,

"Our military quality has improved considerably as well, the Runecrafted weapons made by his majesty allow for very easy mass production."

He made a note to pause at those words, and Raymond laughed internally at how cheeky he was being,

"Yet if i were to state it, I believe the most important change has been the increase in literacy and education among the common people. More and more of our citizens have access to and utilize our new public services, such as our expanding library system and even petition for changes to their respective local governments. This has also allowed us to identify and capitalize on the talents of those who might have slipped past other wise. Overall I believe we now have almost fifty-five per cent of our adult population literate, and rising with each day, with many of them now holding some manner of important function in the Empire."

Raymond was again blown away,

'_Even them, first E-Rantel and now the entire empire'_

"We heard something similar here in E-Rantel, are your people also incentivised to do so?" asked Raymond,

"They are, they receive specific tax incentives and other measures to encourage the practice, as well we mandate that no one who is not fully capable can utilise the mail system, thus many who wish to send packages and other functions must be competent, this is also helping in our growing rate, we plan to have everyone fully literate within a few years."

Raymond nodded softly, he was fast making a list of changes which would be implemented once the entire ordeal was over, the Dragonlords for their part seemed curious now,

"Is that true, you have such a high rate?"

"We do, but it is even higher in E-Rantel, I believe they have over sixty odd per cent"

"Very impressive, perhaps through the course of future discussion you can explain this system to us, there are regions within our own country which such a competent peasant class would be very beneficial."

"Of course Lord Worm, I am more than positive his Majesty would allow that of me"

The Sorcerer King weighed in

'It is a system which all can have, the free trade of information and ideas is vital for success and the understanding of this information even more imperative. Reading and writing provide people with the hope to seek higher positions than where they are, it allows them to reach for the future and make something of themselves. This is something any sovereign would want for their people, and it is my duty to ensure the future of my subjects,"

Raymond agreed with the sentiment and was comforted with the approving nods and admiration filled eyes from the present party, until...

"Well we cannot know what will come in the future, but that does sound…. _nice_"

The reply from Maximilian was condescending, and Raymond felt beads of sweat drip down his face, he understood well the danger in those words and his smug expression only solidified the asinine remark, he could feel his own fear rising thinking about what might come of this, the room had a tension to it before the Sorcerer King laughed and dispelled the mood, lightening it to some extent.

The Obsidian Dragonlord then proceeded to speak,

"Perhaps we should proceed and discuss the topic of trade more, Sorcerer King, I would like to propose a trade route be established between our trading port of Deran and your nation,"

"Ahh, interesting, please, explain what you have in mind" replied the King,

Raymond breathed a sigh of relief that at least for now the moment had passed, but now he understood the burden of knowledge, of walking the tight rope he asked for, and he also understood that nothing would stop this now,

_'Who will weep for the foolish and the blind?'_

* * *

Aura was sitting comfortably atop a tree in the forest south of E-Rantel, she was nibbling lightly on a cookie from her bento box. Her 'targets' had been moving for a little bit and had arrived at seemed like a sort of pit stop, so she reasoned to also relax as well. On the surface, the two were busy engaging themselves in preparation, horses and other supplies had been stationed and waiting for them and they were strapping the applicable gear to comfortably ride.

She slumped her face into her hands and swung her feet leisurely, she was curious to know what would happen, the Elf King seemed to be a complete jerk, his manners and body language were aggressive and Aura found that to be annoying. She hadn't liked how demanding he was at the summit and there was a part of her that was very happy she had received these orders, she knew Shalltear had been angry that it was not her who would follow, but when her part to play was announced all resistance was given up.

The other one for her part seemed to try and keep her distance, for good reason, and Aura was curious to know what kind of relationship these two might share. She saw that they had fought and the Elf King had lost though not in a decisive manner and he looked to still have plenty in him. Regardless of this, she was also assertive and Aura had been amused with her victory earlier, along with that she had also been able to detect the small presence Aura had intentionally released when they were leaving the city, something the Elf King did not seem to take note of.

It was clear to Aura who was stronger, but she remembered her talks with Cocytus about battle prep and also considered the fact the Elf King was a monk combat type, these sorts were dangerous without weapons and the girl's reliance upon her scythe might make for an interesting rematch if anything she was disarmed.

'_Maybe I'll see something fun throughout this little adventure'_

She mused to herself as she kept watch, they mounted the horses quickly and began to make for the south, towards the border.

Aura was careful not to follow too close, though it would have been easy for her to eliminate her presence and scent she had been told to provide overwatch for the girl and not interfere unless a situation which required her or unless her mission was complete, either case meant she would be doing nothing of true note, and considering their speed it seemed it would be for a few days at least.

She continued to tail them for the better part of the day, through the forest clearing and into the Elf Country, noting how slow they were moving and wishing she could call her familiars to at least entertain her while she watched, but she knew better.

"I wouldn't want to mess up and ruin anything Lord Ainz has planned"

Aura had seen Shalltear's folly and she was more than absolute about not making any similar mistakes or failures, and while Shalltear had been given the chance to redeem herself, Aura did not know if the same would be extended towards her, nor was she in the business of trying to find out.

She steeled herself for the long haul and began the long track towards this floating city in the desert.

'_Maybe I'll find some interesting pets along the way?'_


	25. Chapter 25

**An: There is a hidden message in the name, and I hope someone finds it, but Hope you guys enjoy the chapter, its a bit of a slow burn to the big battle but I believe it will be worth it, see you all soon.**

**Chapter 25**

The journey towards Eryuentiu was off to an extremely boring start, then again most things in life were these recent years. While the Elf king had spent the first few hours observing the countryside as they rode towards his capital it had turned to idle sightseeing of the same foliage and trees and he found no enjoyment in not being in his royal carriage during all this.

Riding like this was for commoners, it was tedious and not fitting someone of his status but he dealt with it, such was required for the situation, he had nonetheless taken a bit of interest in his so-called 'companion' and determined he would make his fun by picking them apart, bit by little bit.

Maeneas Nod Morion was old, and thus was not so easily deceived, yet for whatever reason he could no place who this human was, and It didn't really matter, the Theocracy was doing much to keep from revealing whatever information was related to this being, but he knew she was female and he knew she was at least relatively powerful, these two factors alone made this entire venture somewhat more bearable, knowing he could have a fight or… more, within arm's reach, if he truly felt the need.

'_Perhaps she could be my child' _

While a part of him had always hoped the child he fathered with the former Captain was a male, a woman would not be too bad either, all he cared about was power, all he knew was power, and it was his birthright to lead the most powerful group in this world, to recall the time of his people and he would make sure it to happen.

The road to the capital had been relatively clear, and their journey quick. Their path had been predetermined and he had sent a few of his faster servants the night he had conspired with the Theocracy children to go ahead and set fresh horses and supplies along the route they would take. When the initial party reached the capital they were to inform the other useless citizens of his return and send advanced notice to all the villages along their line of travel to set more fresh supplies to make their journey towards the desert as quick as possible.

They would be traveling for quite a long time overall and while Maeneas was sure of his own stamina and abilities, the same could not be said of his companion, this Theocracy brat might not last as long, and he was not in the mood to allow that to slow him down. If she did fail then he could leave her behind and carry on himself, he would continue relentlessly, the faster this asinine venture was over, the better.

The quicker he could have access to all the females within the domain of the Sorcerer King the ever more to his liking. Then he could take his time determining which was powerful, and which was worthless, but he had some semblance of an idea for who would belong to which criteria.

'_That winged woman and the elves'_

Of the options he had surveyed in E-Rantel, he had been immediately smitten with the winged woman at the side of the Sorcerer King and was absolutely sure he would add her to his harem even if she was not very strong, her beauty alone was sufficient enough for him to crave her. She, like the elves, would be a welcomed addition to his collection, and my what he would do to those pretty black wings of hers.

Maeneas was excited in a myriad of ways for the future to come, he would have ample opportunity to copulate with women of different sorts and he was curious what sorts of children would be sired from their unions.

However one thing he was disappointed in was that he could not procreate with the undead, as that vampire was apparently strong, enough that she could pose a threat to the members of the Black Scripture and he had taken an interest in her when the other useless creatures in the summit had spoken about her apparent power.

'_If she is capable of battling that lizard, then perhaps she could have sired some powerful children' _

Another notable feature about her was her odd appearance, while he had no qualms mating with any being having such a petite figure, her overall allure did not seem to correspond well with her childlike frame, and her bosom was full enough to enthrall many with an appetite for such things. She was strangely enticing to him but alas it did not seem that would be possible. At the very least, for now, he could comfort himself with the thought of what would come of his mating with the others, in particular, the little elves left him wanting.

While it was true they were children, for now, that would not always be the case, Maeneas had lived a long time and he knew in time they would eventually come of age. All he had to do was be patient and keep them in line, perhaps once if grew under his care, they would even come to like their positions as his concubines, and mothers to the rebirth of his race.

The Elf children had instilled in him a rather complicated mix of feelings, on one hand, they filled him with hope for the completion of his longtime goals. They being Elves made them extremely suitable for him, they seemed to have an air of power to them which was exhilarating. Yet their innocence reminded him in some capacity of his own childhood, this feeling only being further exasperated by talk of beings from other worlds, made worse still by having to be around that damned undead.

_'I will personally be the one to put down that filthy creature'_

Maeneas had immediately hated the Sorcerer King when he discovered he had whatever connection to the Eight Kings of Avarice, disregarding his simple mind, altruistic intentions, his stupid calls for peace, and even his blatant disregard of his own power, the most hateful component about that infernal creature was that it was in some ways similar to those eight, to those murders.

Very quickly hatred filled his spirit as he rode on in silent contemplation and he found himself harking on vestiges of a past he could never hope to forget, of raging fires and burning flesh, of the world he loved being rendered apart and all because they were not strong.

Unfortunately, a component of being so old, so hateful, was that he would not forget, could never hope to forget, his reasons for being, his mission in this life.

Maeneas knew well his reputation to the outside world, it was something he spent many long years building, it was advantageous to him for many presumed him to be nothing more than a simple brute, bent of taking women and fathering children, they did not take the time to consider his intellect, nor his reasons. With no one to question his motivations his quiet experiments could continue, no one would take notice, no one would ask questions, no one would interfere. There was a reason he had lived so long, reasons he strived to ensure something powerful lived on, and most importantly reasons his siblings had not, and he knew he would not fail his charge to their memory.

In the mind of this olden king, memories solidified as he found himself witness to a bygone age.

Maeneas was a testament to time long past, he was a High Elf, a particular subspecies of the elven race which predated most of the common variants now known to the world. They were a powerful, cultured civilization which was concentrated in a single local, where they had made their peace, likewise where they had met their doom.

High Elves had long established themselves as a dominant power in the old world, they were first born descendants of a long forgotten God and while they were not as powerful as the ancient dragonlords. Who ruled the old world and lived almost forever, growing stronger with each year, they commanded their own respect from all corners of life.

High Elves had their own attributes which gave them the advantage over others and allowed them to rule their own sections of the world, notably they could live much longer than any other type of Elf, they were extremely adept at physical combat with bodies which could withstand terrible punishment, they had high magic resistance, and lastly all had a very notable distinguishing feature, heterochromatic eyes.

It was in this time that Meanaes found himself, a young elf again, vibrant and happy, his heterochromatic eyes full of wonder and naive stupidity.

He hated the boy he was, ignorant to the world, cradled in the arms of his protective older brother, his siblings' plenty and his parents always within reach.

The thought was pleasant yes, it was pleasant and enraging, the feeling of a beat to his cold heart sparking further hate and before that feeling turned to a simmering rage and he found himself remembering the wrath with which had taken his family from him, of those damned Kings and their overwhelming power.

While many had known of the dragon's massacre at the hands of The Eight Kings of Avarice, not many took the time to think of all the smaller incidences of cruelty they exacted, of the destruction they left in their wake, but he did. He remembered each and every detail, every single moment and movement, all their alien features and weapons, and it would be this which was his fuel, his drive.

In the past his people lived near the land which the Kings would later first claim as their own, his father had always blessed them with stories and tales of their ancestors, of the Elven Gods that had descended and fathered his race but Maeneas was a late bloomer, having already reached the age of 80 and not yet manifesting his power.

His brother, however, had grown to become a strong leader, with a powerful body he was next in line to be king among his people, Maeneas had always looked up to his elder, wishing to emulate and worship him. His brother was powerful, full of life and compassionate, he longed to ensure everyone was taken care of and would expend himself to ensure all felt safe. But that altruism was his downfall, his kindness what brought ruin to everything.

Maeneas remembered with growing agitation of the world when the King's made their debut,

The majority of the nations at the time knew nothing, no one really cared, but the elves were first to witness the floating city appear, and first to venture as to what manner of phenomena caused such a thing.

They marshaled a small force and sent them to investigate, when none of their scouts returned his brother sent more, hoping to establish some contact with whatever mysterious entities may have come with the Castle. Time after time, no one returned, until one day, something did, and the eight of them set about the complete extermination of the high elves of old.

In a decisive strike, they crippled the elven leadership immediately, having tortured information from the scouts they knew who to find and who first to kill. Maeneas was nothing but a spectator as they tore through his lands, his people killed off bit by bit, their homes put to fire and destruction the likes of which the world had never seen.

In the span of a single day the world he knew, the brother he loved, the parents who cared for him and the people he believed to be strong, all of them brutalized, torn asunder, tortured for sport before being killed like rats. The Kings laughing all the while, mocking them for being so weak, for being so defenseless, and as his brother stood before them, bleeding and pleading for the lives of his people, Maeneas was hidden away, fear gripping his soul and in that fear and panic his power finally awoke.

In his joy at the surge, he rushed forward and attempted to retaliate and was almost laughably subdued, one of the hulking figures towering over him, its boot firmly holding him down,

"Look at that, hahahaha maybe this one will be able to do something"

"Didn't the Romans always leave one victim alive to see what happened?"

"Dude your history is all fucked up, but look at it, these things are practically worse than a noob, whats the level around here dude?"

"Whatever, where to next?"

"I don't really care, but I heard there are dragons around, let's find them,"

"ooohhh, that could be fun,"

"Right, let's go, I wanna try to see if we have a new level cap"

"I've gotta hand it to the dev's this update is awesome, everything seems so real…"

They mocked as they left, and joking as if none of the destruction they caused mattered, and why should it, they were strong, such was their right. The powerful were entitled the world, the powerful were entitled everything.

When the Kings finally destroyed themselves, Maeneas finally returned to the land of his people, the desert it now was, and decided he would create a race of only the powerful, he would lead a family which would never again be subject to such humiliation, such pain, such disgrace ever again.

Yet throughout his entire life, though his efforts were many, he found that all his children were failures, none of them could awaken their own blood, they could not live up to his expectations. But he had time, and now with the advent of beings from this other world, he not only had the opportunity to seek his revenge but to take women who would provide him with powerful spawn.

As they rode on a rough patch of trees came into sight, the camouflage looking rather unattended to his eyes, they quickly passed and a grove of massive trees encircling a single earthly palace came into view. As he looked on towards the capital, a cold determination met his eyes, everything was just within reach. Those fools in the Theocracy believed they would be victorious over the undead, he would aid them, none of that matter, the small creatures would die off fighting one another, or he would end them when the time came.

Soon the dawn of the High Elves would be upon this world, with the Dragonlords gone or in hiding nothing would stand in his way when he reared children who would exact his will. This world would be his, his people's once again and he would not be detracted from getting everything he had worked so hard to acquire.

The Elf King had a muted bloodlust enter his eyes as he peered at the masked Theocracy agent,

'_Nothing'_

* * *

Zesshi was enamored with the elven capital, The streets were branches interconnecting throughout the tops of massive trees, entire homes built completely within the trunks of these same behemoths.

It was beautiful, not in the same manner as the Sorcerer Kings home but beautiful nonetheless, she could feel nature's energy pulsating throughout the area and there was a holy earthly beauty to it.

In the past, while he had missions taking her to forested areas though she never spent much time thinking about her surroundings, it seemed her elven half was finally calling and she had to admit a certain love for nature and there seemed to be something within this realm that just reached out to her.

It was for these reasons that she made sure to not spend too much time around the other elves, she sensed in herself the want to explore and know, and as tempting as it all seemed she did not need any slip-ups.

She kept to herself and looked on as they were resupplied and preparation work made for their return on the road.

The horses they had used to travel here were good, they had been push past the point of exhaustion and it seemed they were going to faint and keel over when they had arrived, but from here on they would be riding Sleipnir. Zesshi had seen and ridden some of the powerful eight-legged steeds in the past and knew of the many advantages they had over lesser horses. It only made sense to have the near tireless mounts, traversing over the hot dry desert would be troublesome with a myriad of dangerous creatures roaming about or hiding within the sands, being able to run when needed was important, but running fast enough to escape was even better.

Considering the power and stamina the Sleipnir possessed she guessed the trip to Eryuentiu should take little more than a hard day's ride or a day and a half at a more conservative pace, and with the desert no more than a few hours from here they would be able to camp once before finishing their journey there, unfortunately there was a problem now.

Immediately after they had arrived the Elf King had retired to his palace for whatever he wished and Zesshi could guess a list of things he was doing, and whom he was doing them to, and the hold up in leaving was entirely due to his,.. desires.

The thought sickened her and she decided to approach the stable boy preparing their equipment to distract herself from further thought.

As he saw her coming, he instinctively lowered himself, as if cowering before a whip, the feeling of being stronger was natural, she knew she was better than most people from experience, but seeing it from this little child was a touch saddening, she decided to be a touch less cold.

"What's your name?" she asked in an even tone,

"I.. I am Vorgne, a horse keeper" he looked up momentarily before again darting his eyes down.

"How old are you Vorgne?"

"I will be turning sixty-eight soon,"

Again he stole a quick glance, and Zesshi was tiring of this behind her mask,

"That's quite young by your standards is it not?"

".. Yes. Yes it is, though I have some time before I reach adulthood,"

"Do you intend to remain a horse keeper then as well,"

Her voice sounded jeering, a mistake she bit her self for,

"uh... no, I will be joining the military corp soon, so... I am expected to be strong,"

Zesshi was eyeing the boy curiously, he had a low profile, no distinguishable muscle mass or feel of power. His skin was darkened somewhat as a result of the work he did, the dirt clinging to him as a moth would a flame. But his ears were still affixed, a rare sight for the elves she had seen, all of these and his slender frame gave the impression he might be a woman from a glance.

"What do your parents make of this?"

The boy finally made to look up for more than a single second, something resembling grief evident in his eyes, and Zesshi could guess his next comment,

"They will not think much, my mother died two years ago during the war,"

"Ahh... I see... your father?"

"... He,... Cares not for his sons, not any of us anyway,"

She puzzled over the comment for a brief second before realization dawned upon her,

'_Wait, am I talking to my half brother?'_

Zesshi had always heard of how the Elf King made to procreate with almost anything that moved, but seeing an offspring, speaking to someone she could consider family in a biological sense, was…. unnerving.

She was unsettled, to say the least, and she did not know how to proceed, but a curious thought came to her.

"How.. how many of you are his children?"

The boy looked contemplative for a few moments,

"From the population, perhaps over thirty-five percent of us are his by blood,"

The number was astounding, and it left her feeling almost… normal, but as he went on she quickly realized that was not the case,

"That's just how many I think are still alive, we get sent to the front lines often, to try and awaken our 'inner power' the King doesn't truly care for anything or any of us,"

"As anyone awakened so far?"

"No one considerable, and not in any manner which was satisfactory to the King, most are dead now."

Zesshi thought on it for a while and considered what an army of powerful elves would do to the balance of power, and for a very brief second she was impressed, even a touch proud of her father.

'_Seems we share something at least'_

"What about you, will you be strong?"

The boy looked at her with a puzzled expression, before depression seemed to take his eyes.

"I will be what I am to be, we don't get a choice, he keeps us here and we are powerless to seek anything else, that is life, whether I awaken some power or not, becoming someone of note or not, my life is set, there is no changing that,"

She was moved by the sense of absolution in his voice, and she thought of the life she herself has led under the Theocracy, of how she now felt like a bird realizing it was trapped, and how easily that could lead to how this boy was now.

Zesshi promised herself she would not be bound by the strings of a fate she did not choose. Once this fight was done, she would seek out something she enjoyed, find her corner of this world the Sorcerer King wished to make, and hope he would allow her that much.

She looked once more at the boy as she turned to leave, his face plainly showing everything she might have been inside, a mirror to what she could have become, just another slave to some else's whims.

She whispered under breath "Thank you brother," and left the elf in her past.

They didn't idle too long after the Elk King had finished his 'business',

The ride out was unceremonious and Zesshi took point as they left the forested capital and began the ride towards the desert.

The original plan was to make it there just before sundown, rest briefly and begin crossing under the cool of the night when it would not be too hot and after the denizens of the desert had become dormant. But their stop in the capital had lasted much longer, a specific someone detract them almost half a day and the sun would be high in the sky when they reached their destination, meaning the plan was scuffled.

"We'll camp by the edge of the forest and move out towards later in the day once the heat dies down" she heard him speak behind her.

She nodded approvingly,

This was new territory and she had no time to be picky about what she wanted to do, and besides, she figured she would not be getting too much cooperation from the Elf King if she chose to be pushy right now.

The ride was brief, the famed horses held fast to their reputation, they were ungodly fast, within the span of short hours they reached fewer and fewer trees, the dense foliage quickly becoming shorter and more sparse, the environment was changing and with it the creatures which they would encounter.

Nothing along the way had been adventurous enough or dangerous enough to try and hinder their progress, nothing large would live in such a place but as they entered more open spaces, Zesshi felt an increase in the eyes around them, though many were nothing more than walking snacks to her.

Zesshi wasn't too afraid of what would come, she was confident they would be able to handle any monster which decided to rear its head, but the problem would be the time, she also had no intention of revealing her true strength yet. Thus a difficult monster requiring more effort would just eat up more and more of their timeline.

As the desert finally came into view she slowed down and flagged to him to halt, the horses were responsive and his royal douche was silent about the matter.

It was mid-day and there was a certain beauty to the sight of the sea of sand, Zesshi took the time to appreciate how the gold flakes seemed alive swirling about with the breeze. Every now and again she would catch the hint of a tornado about to begin before it grounded and died away.

The heat, however, was something else, the air was arid and the very sky seemed to want to bake anything under its domain. Not much could withstand this type of climate, and nothing weak would survive the environment, nonetheless, she smiled at the change from the winters she was used to towards the northern regions.

"I still don't see the problem in crossing now, we can still have the advantage,"

The annoyance in his voice was evident and Zesshi rolled her eye knowing he knew exactly why they would not be crossing yet.

"Do you ever stop complaining?"

She retorted,

"Mind yourself brat, you are speaking to a King"

She cocked her head to one side and responded

"I've killed many a king in the past,"

He looked serious for a moment before laughing

"You're funny for a human, you may be strong but when this is all over and this skeleton put down, how about I show you what true power is,"

"I'll look forward to seeing you beg for mercy again"

That seemed to jeer him and Zesshi let off a radiant smile as he turned and went about setting himself up.

'We only have a few hours before night falls, we'll move out once the sun descends over the hills and follow it west,"

He grunted in response as he went about his own devices and she went about fishing for a small collection of items to eat.

Time went by relatively slowly and a fire wasn't necessary as they waited for the cool cover of dark, she kept herself busy to avoid the mad creature and repeated tasks to kill the time, often ensuring the horses were properly watered or her beloved scythe cleaned, ready for the reaping of lives. Sure enough, after some time, the sun began to rescind its tyrannical rule and in response to the newly granted freedom, the air cooled, inviting life to resume.

The Elf King was quick to ready himself and drew his body atop his Sleipnir,

"If you're quite done, I am ready to leave"

She ignored the comment and reigned her harness,

She started out towards the dying light, and imagined all the creatures which would be soon falling asleep below,

"Let's go!"

She pulled the reins and the horse raced off into the sands.


	26. Chapter 26

**AN: So tomorrow's release will be a little late or skipped, for anyone who is a part of the Discord server, I plan to release a pre-edit version on the beta link tomorrow so as to get some suggestions and help editing before releasing on here. Join if you guys want to provide immediate feedback and help me finish this off strong, thank you all for your continued support and please review and comment, they are always welcomed. Also 'I Am The String Cutter' won the elf king name challenge and has requested a double release soon, so I will be posting one within the next few days, so hats off to you mate.**

**Chapter 26**

The last day of talks had been relatively productive if one could call the prelude to this great war productive.

Regardless, Draudillon noted how interested the Argland lords seemed in establishing trade with as many nations as possible. They were extremely interested in a policy of increased involvement and expansion, Draudillon understood that they saw their previous method of operation as clearly not working, keeping to themselves had made problems they may have been able to help or fix worse, and with each request they made she was slowly compiling a short list of similar things to ask the Sorcerer King herself.

She realized once this war was over, her nation would be in dire need of many commodities, they had been operating on a need only basis for a very long time. Allocating almost nothing to national improvement measures and much of her budget was tied up in securing military aid and training her soldiers, this took its toll on the people, they were often overworked and underappreciated and she would make sure they found some manner of recompense when it was all said and done.

It was this line of thinking that made the prospect of simply buying quality goods and food so comforting and she was more than happy to know that much of the produce from these regions were sold at shockingly low prices.

When she had spoken with her new peers, she had inquired on the economic toll they paid for their membership as vassals, and learned it was low, and was further baffled and marvelled at the figures they produced in return and wondered how much time it would take for her own nation to return to its former state when she implemented the undead labour.

'_I still need to work out those terms' _

She had all but received confirmation that the Sorcerer King would accept her as a vassal, he had promised her ample time to think of what terms they would be accepted under and further insisted he would allow her time to regain her national stability before imposing any real tributes, this essentially meant she would be keeping all the profits from the rental of the undead. Her short time within the Great Tomb of Nazarick had more than simply changed her, most of her retinue found themselves at peace and her Prime Minister often jested about how she was getting more and more easy going.

They had spoken at length on the threat which was closely looming over their nation and was surprised that the majority of the discussion was not on the actions required to be taken but rather the aftermath, logistics about how to clean up and move on once the horde had been put down.

In truth she felt as if nothing could actually go wrong with the might of the Sorcerer King behind her, taking a second to think it over she marvelled at how relaxing his presences truly was. He was a beacon in all respects and she had spent a lot of time speaking it over with Jircniv and Renner finding them to be in a similar mindset about their master.

'_He's like an unfailing shield'_

Had anyone told her a few months ago that a massive demi-human force was heading towards her nation at this very second and would arrive to pillage and destroy all she held dear within a matter of days, she would have drunk herself silly and declared it the end times.

Yet here she was sipping lightly on a heavenly drink they called 'Orange Juice" thinking about a possible future where her peasants would be able to read and write, and even more baffling was the fact she believed all this was possible.

As she thought about her new master she glanced leisurely at the assembly of Cardinals across from her, they had been more proactive in the summit planning and discussions, asking about different facets of each nation.

They seemed to be gathering information about economic states, wealth figures so to speak and resources, and how each country was relative to their market capacity and other factors related to production.

They did so all under the guise of trying to learn what can be traded and what they were willing to exchange in the future but she was sure the majority of them were just making a list of what they thought they would be taking from each nation once they won this imaginary war of theirs, in a way she pitted them, it was almost sad being so stupid.

Draudillon had long held a relationship with the Theocracy, establishing ties with them in the early time of her rule, her father was more weary of their dogma, believing them to be wolves in hiding and thus was cautious but she found their strength admirable and sought out kinship in shared borders. She had believed they at times held genuine care for her and her nation's problems, sending help when requested so long as it was paid for, but thinking back on all the half-assed attempts at aid. All of the times where they committed meagre forces for a season or two, she saw not the actions of a country seeking to actually help her out of a dire situation but those of an opportunistic council, staving off the destruction of what they considered their meat shield from the Beastmen to their west.

The thought infuriated her somewhat, and she was all the more glad their destruction was at least in part at hand,

Focusing back on the summit discussion, the Cardinal of darkness had been going on and on about intention and pure thoughts, preaching of the divine nature of their gods and how they would seek to impart this upon everyone present. He was convinced he could change their minds and would call it a gift from the gods if they receive this truth and held it dear, the entire thing annoying Draudillon to no ends when an interruption was had.

And as if waiting for some divine sign one of the attendants of the Sorcerer King called out, the room halted and looked towards the frog-headed demi-human, the Sorcerer King quickly rebuked him for his talking out of turn,

"It is rude to interrupt people while they are speaking Demiurge, I was quite intrigued by the words of the Cardinal of Darkness"

The sarcasm was palpable in his words and Draudillon had to hold in a laugh, her eyes shot to Renner finding the girl too was smiling a little too wide.

"I beg your forgiveness for my intrusion Lord Ainz, but I have dire news,"

The air changed as a more serious tone took hold,

"Proceed Demiurge, what is so important,"

The guardian bowed and stepped forward,

"I have just received word that our scouts near the Dragon Kingdom have spotted an entire army of Beastmen approaching the nation from the east,"

The room hushed immediately, the Cardinals faining small grins,

"I see,... This is problematic, what do they number?"

Asked the Sorcerer King,

The frogman looked down and held the tension, the others for their parts were playing perfectly to this dramatic scene, leaning closer as if to better hear the news they already knew.

"My Lord, we cannot be absolutely sure, but initial estimates... say over four hundred thousand,"

The room fell into absolute silence, and Draudillon internally cleared her throat,

_'its showtime'_

She had spent years perfecting her acting skills, years performing the role of a dutiful queen and presenting herself in a manner that at times was not accurate or comfortable for the sake of the ends, her display before the paedophile leader of Crystal Tear being a testament to that.

Here, however, she decided she would call forth her best performance, drawing in a deep breath, she promptly pushed back her chair, making plenty of noise as she immediately stood up. Her hands flew to cover her mouth, eyes widened ecstatically to their extremes, making her seem almost unhinged, she looked aghast, as if she had just seen a ghost. As if acting like supporting actors in this play, Jircniv and Renner immediately followed suit, they too taking positons unbecoming of their station to really drive the 'fear' home for their audience. The three all looked beyond distraught, they pleaded with their eyes, Renner even going so far as to shed a few tears, her tender beautiful frame making her performance all the more impressive.

'_Damn this girl is good'_

Not to be outdone, Draudillon did something special, she decided to drive home her 'shock'

She let her appearance slip,

The crowd gasped at the sight, having not been privy to the form, they were all mesmerised and the Cardinals all beyond words, their gawking mouths proof of her excellent efforts a strange glee evident in more than a few of them at her sorrow.

She immediately took to holding her face, until a commanding and powerful voice rang out.

"Enough!"

The silence returned as the Sorcerer King stood, his aura rising with him, the air seemed denser and gravity itself seemed to bend as his eyes flared, looking out towards them all, a declaration upon time itself was to be made. She felt as he spoke sparks of power flew to crash against them, so powerful were his words that Draudilon almost forgot she was supposed to be acting.

"I will not have any force, outside or otherwise threaten those whom I have pledged to protect!"

"These Beastmen have overstepped their bounds, betrayed the trust and mercy I extended to them, and they will suffer for their arrogance, they will all feel my wrath for their transgressions"

The words were low, a deep reverberating call to action, he turned to her and she saw absolute power in his eyes.

"Queen Draudillon, I shall not allow a single citizen to be harmed in your nation, of this, I swear upon the name, Ainz Ooal Gown!"

He swept over them all, his power reaching a fever pitch,

"My apologies dear friends, but we must postpone our summit until this work is done, please return to your nations and be safe, know that this work will be completed promptly, I will commit my best effort to this task, our new nation will never be left to harm!"

"Guardians"

The collection all fell to their knees, heads sunk low to heed his commands, all ready to serve their master.

"Shalltear prepare to send everyone back, Albedo, Demiurge bring me your servants and summon Momon then meet me in the Throne Room. We will marshal our forces and meet this threat head-on."

He turned to look at the assembly,

"Dear friends, may we meet again soon, on more… peaceful of circumstances,"

Following the send-off, responses were immediate,

The vampire girl quickly opened a few massive portals, seemingly allowing the summit members to make haste in returning to their own corners of the world.

The dragonlords stepped through without haste followed quickly by Emperor Jircniv and his Empress,

The Cardinals seeing the members leave, stood to gather themselves and bid farewell,

"Queen Draudillon, we wish you fair journey and know we will gather our own forces to come to relieve the effort in repelling the Beastmen,"

The Cardinal of Darkness's voice seemed so genuine one could mistake it for truth,

'_Fucking snakes'_

She was impressed by their ability to so easily lie to other people's faces and Draudillon put on a pleasant smile before thanking them

The rest wished her luck and stepped into the hole in reality, Raymond being last gave a meaningful look to the remaining members and the Sorcerer King before following his fellow Cardinals.

As the spell ended, the entire conference room died down, activity ceased immediately.

Very quickly two portals opened and through them stepped the Dragonlords and the Bloody Emperor again, rejoining the group once more.

With everyone gathered the Sorcerer King spoke,

"It seems the trap has been sprung, and now all we do is wait,"

There was a line of satisfied grins among the gathered and Draudillon recomposed herself and looked at her lord,

Looking back to her he spoke,

"Queen Draudillon, we will be returning you to your capital, I will be joining you shortly so we can advance upon the Beastmen together,"

"Emperor Jircniv, King Zanec, and Prime Minister Renner, you and your retinue may join us if you wish,"

There was positive affirmation from the respective groups and the Worm Dragonlord spoke up,

"I do not doubt your power Sorcerer King, but how do you intend to deal with such a force of Beastmen?"

Draudillon had questioned this herself, while she knew of the power of the Sorcerer King, and his entire domain seemed beyond imagination, she too was very curious, and the topic had been one the collective trifecta of Renner, herself and Jircniv had pondered over for some time.

"I will be giving them the option to leave and return to their lands such is demanded from peace, they can be gone, unharmed and never to come back. However because such a thing will mostly not occur, I will be testing out a particular spell of mine, something which I believe will be best suited for this particular situation, following that should any survive we will hunt them down and exterminate them with time."

Looking back to Draduillon he spoke in a more concerned and almost fatherly tone,

"Never again will your people fear the Beastmen, this I promise you,"

She was extremely grateful, her heart jumped and more than a few tears escaped her eyes as the words were spoken, she immediately took to genuflect before her master, some of the other vassals following suit.

"From the bottom of my heart, I thank you Sire,"

"Umu, Rise, do not stand on ceremony,"

He extended a skeletal hand to pick her up, in both spirit and body,

"When this is complete, and both of these threats eliminated, I wish to host a celebration, a party to commemorate for your vassalization to my domain, I would extend this invitation to everyone,"

Murmurs of positive affirmation rang out among the group, and the Platinum Dragonlord spoke up,

"We graciously accept your invitation, your Majesty,"

"As do we," Spoke Zanec,

"I would not dare dream of missing such an event,"

Jircniv replied and once all others were agreed, the Sorcerer King again spoke,

"Excellent then let us be quick with these matters, and proceed into the future, with anticipation and cooperation"

"Here here"

Someone yelled out.

* * *

Yvon had been one the first to enter and subsequently exit through the portal, in truth it was because he had struggled to keep himself in check when the Dragon Queen's mental breakdown had occurred following the news of her people's doom. He sought to leave as quickly as possible so as to not blow their cover and when the opportunity presented itself he was quick to proceed

Everything was proceeding beautifully,

The Cardinals had ordered their group to be ready at a moment's notice, throughout the past day the servants had been coordinating with the Temples to provide them with dummy actors for the escorts, and the Black had already been stationed within the city, serving as makeshift priests and adepts, things couldn't be going any better.

They quickly set about gathering their luggage to make haste for the Theocracy, this entire show was to convince everyone of their "commitment" to helping the Dragon Kingdom in this hour of need.

Their previous show of support, to even be considered that, had served only to ensure that they would not cause any suspension should their marshalled force be discovered, this would then help in ensuring no one would keep too big an eye on them when they sent that force towards E-Rantel, a move they had already set in motion.

'_They all fucking bought it' _

He was gleefully saying to himself as he prepared for their exit.

Ample time had passed without so much as a peep between them, they all knew better than to discuss openly or reveal too much while they were still in the city, no time could be wasted on casting the proper protective spells and so they waited until they were squarely on the road leaving E-Rantel before they broke down in maniacal laughter.

"Wow, seeing it was even better than what I had imagined,"

"Did you hear the panic in the Sorcerer King's voice," responded Maximillion

"Perhaps that was just you but he seemed calm enough, regardless let us be serious, we have made our move, it is time to engage, where is everyone right now?" spoke Raymond, sort of killing the mood in a way.

A serious tone resumed in the carriage as it made its way towards Kami Miyako, the Grand Marshal cleared his throat to report,

"We have the necessary forces stationed throughout the Northwest, we anticipate gathering the entirety of it together to take no more than two days. Once they have gathered we can effectively make a line for the Dragon Kingdom before turning north and heading towards E-Rantel, they should be able to make it to the city in a single day's ride without much issue or worry for supply problems."

"What of the Elves?" asked Yvon, narrowing his eyes,

"The elvish people have been instructed to gather a force as well, I believe they will muster some one hundred and fifty thousand, though they will be behind our force a few days, they may be suitable to hold off any force from the enclave in the Abelion Hills who may come towards our rear. They would be perfect as a meat shield while we conquer the Sorcerous Kingdom."

"We may need to divert one of the scriptures to ensure that occurs, or to at least command them, speaking of which, Raymond, when can we expect the Black to take the city?"

Raymond straightened himself to report,

"As you know Slyvin and his advanced party are already within, word was sent to Thousand Mile Astrologer and the rest of the Black was dispatched to join the captain, a few of our spies will show them the way inside once they have arrived. That should take no more than a day or so, we have coordinated their attack to correspond with the day before our main forces arrive at the city, given their power and Momon's aid, we should be able to hold the city easily within a day's time."

"Excellent, and what do we think of the war to come at the eastern front?"

They all took a few moments to think about the logistics of the situation,

While none of them doubted the power of the Sorcerer King, they all knew well what sort of foes the Beastmen were. Their forces were not to be taken lightly and their wave-like battle tactics worked extremely well considering their physiology, they utilized themselves in a very effective manner and were prone to breaking any defensive force pit against them, they had given the Theocracy headaches on more than one occasion when a force was committed against them. An attack focused mentality was the only way to continue forward, but that would pose tactical issues of its own.

"I don't believe the fighting will be short in any capacity, we know he cannot utilize his destructive spell for a while and before we left the undead city guards were already being moved in some manner. This means the Sorcerer King will have to rely on his more powerful undead to help take care of the threat, four hundred thousand Beastmen will not fall quickly, nor will they fall easily. Once a rhythm has been set they will begin to pound away at eh undead, we know he has some five hundred of those creatures currently, with perhaps more at his disposal but against those numbers, this war could last upwards of a few months."

Raymond's assessment seemed sound, and they trusted him when it came to military matters, his years of experience paying off well when it came to strategy.

Yvon added to the conversation,

"We should station the Windflower to monitor the situation, and once Zesshi returns with the Elf King we can coordinate a means of luring the Sorcerer King away from the conflict into a more advantageous territory, we need him alone in order to be able to take him down quickly"

Their strategy was simple, once they held E-Rantel they would have a perfect bargaining chip to use against the King, forcing him to give up his own involvement in the war to the East. He wouldn't abandon his campaign against the Beastmen so he would have to leave the bulk of his forces there to fend them off prolonging the fight or involving other vassals, which would be against his self-righteous declaration earlier.

They would then use this opportunity to entrap him in a location where Zesshi, the Black and the Elf King could utilize the treasures found in Eryuentiu to exploit a critical weakness for all magic casters, their lack of physical defence.

Being undead there was a number of attributes which should be very effective against him, and once the King was dead, they would effectively take their time making short work of his subordinates.

While they were somewhat powerful, they all seemed rather dull, hinging on every word of their liege, this lack of independent thought capacity meant once the Sorcerer King was dead, they would be in disarray, a critical moment would present itself to strike fast and hard against some of the more powerful ones, like that Butler.

"Can we rely on Momon to take care of the Butler?" spoke the Pontifex,

"You heard what he said, the Dragonoid is the strongest among the group, but he believes he can defeat him, and if he can at least match its strength then we can enlist our own forces and commit to a joint attack, once the butler falls, we will have ample opportunity to kill the rest and retrieve our Holy Treasure."

At the mention of what was stolen from them, Yvon had a hard glint in his eye, hate filling the void behind them before a thought came to mind.

'_... maybe' _

He thought,

"Perhaps we should not be so keen on killing the butler," spoke Yvon, the others looking at him in curiosity, as he continued

"Perhaps he can be useful if we can dominate him, you all saw his power against the Dragonlords. If we can subjugate such a creature using [Downfall of Castle and Country] than we will have added much to our military might. When this is all over we plan to drive a campaign to take the other lands and expand, having such a powerful tool at our disposal would make our plans much easier. As well because the Elf King will be demanding Zesshi as payment once this was all said and done, having something which can replace the void she would leave would be extremely beneficial, especially if it is even stronger than she is."

Everyone took his words into consideration,

"Yes, yes, I like that,"

More murmurs of approval came as they thought it over, Yvon felt good about himself as his peers agreed.

"This is divine retribution, not only will that wretched undead be gone, but the Platinum Dragonlord will be put down, a whole host of treasure will be ours, and once we have conquered the rest of the kingdoms, we will have access to the most powerful group of individuals within the region. The Beastmen nation will at least be weakened from their war with the Sorcerer King, or preoccupied taking care of the Dragon Kingdom."

The Grand Marshal spoke,

"With our holy treasure, those from Eryuentiu, Momon, and the Dragonoid, we would possess a power unlike anything this world has ever seen,"

More murmurs of agreement rang out before Berenice spoke,

"Once that is complete, we should conquer the Northern Holy Kingdom, wipe the last remnants of the Sorcerer King's influence from this world."

"What of the people there?" asked Raymond,

"What of them, they are heretics, they turned their backs upon the true gods, many worship this undead as a God and this new Holy King seems nothing more than an incompetent fool. The South will happily take up arms against them with our help and crush the heresy from their lands, we can then safely annex the entire region,"

"But did we not agree to allow the Elf King to have those lands?" asked Raymond,

Berenice turned a cold look towards him,

"And why would we hold true to a deal with that monster?'

She continued,

"Once this war is won and those of great power on our side, we should wipe him and his disgusting habits from the world. Whatsmore, we will need many slaves to help rebuild once all this is complete. The Elves are perfect for the task and those filthy Dwarves will do anything to escape annihilation."

Once her coldness passed she resumed her motherly tone, looking upwards towards the sky as she spoke,

"The gods demand veneration, worship and praise. What better way to do so than to build new Kami Miyako, a new capital in the centre of this new greater nation we will build. Imagine Temples where palaces used to be and millions of devout followers, human followers, praising the six, this is how the world should be, this is how we will make it!"

Yvon could not disagree with her logic and the idea of a centralized Theocracy, a new and powerful golden state encompassing the entirety of the West of the continent left him very pleased.

The group rode on in debate as they thought of what the world would look like once their work was done, Yvon looked out once more towards the horizon, where the sun would soon set, and he thought to himself of the closing on this world and the new one to come.

'_We will create a grateful world, a better world, and when all of this is set in stone, they will remember us as heroes' _


	27. Chapter 27

**AN: So this chapter is the first to have gone through thorough proofreading and my sincere thank you to ReligiousAtticLizard and PervySageChuck for their hard work and dedication in helping me get this done, you guys are the best.**

**Chapter 27**

"URGH!"

Rodrik awoke with a pounding headache, the very ends of his mind screaming at the pain. There was nothing quick or easy about his attempt to recollect himself, and the failure only made his head hurt more.

Eventually he began to try and collect his senses, but the difficulty was immense.

He couldn't see very well and his eyes refused to take in any information.

His ears rang constantly and nothing could be discerned.

He needed to calm down, and access the situation.

Moving his index finger to the bridge of his nose to relieve some of the pressure from his head. He wondered why the usual relief did not come, but the horrifying truth dawned on him when he attempted it again. His arm would not budge.

'_The hell?'_

His arm was immobile, and as he struggled to move it he found both his arms were tightly bound, with not the slightest bit of movement permitted.

He panicked as he quickly realized he was not even touching the ground. His entire body was suspended slightly above the floor and against a wall of sorts, and his eyes darted to each side, learning quickly that even his head was bound, unable to follow the movement of his eyes.

His heart began to pound.

"What's going on?" He tried to say, the words sounding miffed and completely incoherent.

He struggled to piece together his racing thoughts and calm himself.

'_Okay, Okay, breathe… breathe!'_

Once he was somewhat calmer he struggled to bring to mind the last thing he remembered.

His contingent was on a long term scouting mission.

Their task this time was to provide overwatch of the events in The Dragon Kingdom and report everything which would transpire there. They had been the first to spot the Beastmen army and had quickly relayed the message back to the capital where Thousand Mile Astrologer picked up on their signal warnings and informed the Cardinals.

After a few hours, they had received word to remain and keep watch, to relay information about what would come in the following weeks as the Sorcerer King engaged the Beastman invasion.

Rodrik had thought the idea was insane. Such a force would have required the combined strength of the Theocracy and most of the surrounding friendly nations. Hell, he even believed they may have needed the help of the demihumans to aid in repelling such a threat, but his orders were absolute.

Wait, watch, and report.

And so they did.

They had been camping out in a hidden location for three days already. It was wooded and dense, providing a perfect amount of cover for them to move around more freely in comparison to some of the other missions they had undertaken. Honestly, he thought it was a bit of a well-deserved vacation for his team and considering what the other three units would be up to, he was not at all perturbed to sit and wait.

The Windflower Scripture was one of the more numerous special ops groups in the Theocracy, being outdone only by the former Sunlight Scripture. Being made up of four units of twelve people they had versatility and function, being small enough to infiltrate and remain hidden while also being able to come together as a large scouting force when needed.

Overall, they were a relatively low threat as compared to some of the other Scriptures, each member averaging out to be about as powerful as a platinum ranked adventurer. They were not superhumanly powerful like the Black Scripture but they could certainly give almost anything a notable fight as they retreated.

Each contingent had been tasked with areas of importance, one was on constant watch of the Sorcerous Kingdom, the Captain and his Alpha group of elites being tasked with that job and with the Clearwater Scripture usually on hand should they require any extra help.

Another, Charlie, was surveying the lands to the south, with the last one, Delta, usually in waiting at a garrison for logistical and extra support should it be required. However, the situation had forced them to be stationed with Alpha contingent, as the Cardinals had made their way to E-Rantel.

Rodric was mission leader for Bravo contingent and he took his job relatively seriously, being flexible when the need arose but always keeping an overall tight reign over his unit, ensuring mission success.

Only results would propel him to Alpha contingent and eventually to the seat of Captain of the Windflower Scripture, but those accolades would come with time. He was young, he had some connections within the inner circles and most importantly, he knew how to wait.

It was this that sparked his dedication to observing procedure and protocol, but his team's usual care was what made the situation they encountered on the fifth night even more bizarre. They had just eaten and were getting ready to host their nightly debrief of the information they had gathered over the day when a particularly snarky voice had called out to them.

"Wow, you're all pretty good at hiding –su."

He quickly spun to make out where the voice had come from as his crew launched into full alert, drawing their weapons and the runners readying themselves to escape.

This was normal protocol, if they were compromised in any manner, the fastest four would split into individual directions and make for the capital, find a way to report what had occurred and prevent it from happening again. They were not a group of fighters.

But as the lovely voice's origin made itself known, even Rodrik was taken back a bit.

"Whoa, holy shit..."

Someone had spoken almost reflexively, and Rodrik was inclined to go along with the statement.

The woman in front of them was overwhelmingly beautiful in a seductive minx sort of manner. She had red, fiery hair fixed in two long braids reaching down towards her hips. A strange cap adorned the top of her head and a large, cross-shaped weapon glinting in the moonlight held to her back.

It was also clear she might have been a maid, and her attire fit the picture. However, it was extremely well made. Clearly a quality which would only be given to head maids of state or those of very important people and Rodrik was aghast to wonder about whose servant this could be as she spoke.

"Whoa, whoa! No need to get all tense over little old me."

She added a wink with her statement, and he felt his blood attempt to rush to places it did not belong at the moment.

This was no time for such things, and the strange appearance of this maid in the middle of the woods only added to that assessment.

"What do we do, sir?"

One of his members asked as they assumed a defensive position around her while the four runners took their places to flee, ready at a moment's notice.

He thought the matter over. She didn't seem very threatening, giggling and smiling at them, but this was certainly a breach. They had been compromised and they needed to either get rid of her, or abandon their mission and escape somehow. Either way, this would be a black mark, but depending on how it went, he might be able to turn it to his favour.

"Identify yourself!"

His tone was commanding, allowing no room for negotiations.

"Oh, I'm Lupusregina Beta, a servant of Lord Ainz Ooal Gown."

Her cheeky remark was accompanied by a sweet smile as she inclined her head to the left, lifting her hand she made a V with her two forefingers as a sign of peace.

'_This chick's insane…' _Rodrik thought to himself.

He was of course curious what one of the Sorcerer King's subordinates was doing here, but the knowledge of who she was and whom she served made the next few choices easy; delay and escape.

"GO!"

He yelled as the runners immediately took to the dark to make their escape and the rest of them stood their ground to begin their defense maneuvers.

"We stall for as much time as possible," his commands were simple, and he brandished his weapon as a fitting show of leadership, the rest of his unit quickly following suit.

However, the maid simply turned her head and laughed,

"Oh, man you guys are cute – su!"

In the span of a single second, the atmosphere seemed to completely freeze over, a black void seemingly surrounding her form as predatory eyes glinted from her pretty face and hungrily licked them over.

Rodrik swallowed hard as tendrils of fear washed over him.

"Oh no, maybe you all got this wrong, none of you are going anywhere. You see I may not be able to have my fun with you right now, but don't worry, we'll get plenty of time to play once the important work is done."

The carnivorous eyes remained as she spoke and seemingly out of nowhere black shadows arose and immediately subdued his entire team, there was no sound, no warning, they hadn't even been able to sense them.

Rodrik had not the time to even be surprised. All he remembered before sweet Morpheus collected his mind was the final sentence as she spoke into the air,

"Lord Demiurge, the Hanzo's have secured the second team, mov..."

Rodrik then shook himself as he remembered how he got here, and now was at least somewhat sure of where 'here' might be.

'_The Sorcerous Kingdom'_

This was an absolute worst case scenario, and he shuddered to think of what sort of hellish and agonizing torture would proceed with his stay in this land of the dead. As he slowly took note of his surroundings he quickly became entrenched by two new additions to the room, walking in slowly from his peripheral vision.

The first was a monstrous, hellish looking creature, it was relatively short and very fat. It had bluish pale skin, as if decaying flesh was suspended into a river and wobbled back and forth rocking its body forward as its tentacles slithered about. The outfit it wore was tight against its skin, adding even more to its disgusting appearance.

Rodrik felt himself begin the process of vomiting at its sight but nothing would come up even if he wanted it to.

The second was a much more human looking figure, a mildly attractive middle aged man, his glasses spoke of keen intellect and he wore a very well-tailored suit. Something about his appearance was familiar to Rodrik. He doubted if very much of anything good would come from this encounter. What led him to fear the man was the swing of a large, horned silver tail behind him, clearly identifying him as a demihuman.

As the pair approached the ugly flesh monster spoke,

"Lord Demiurge, we have collected the necessary information from their Captain, this one seems to be a unit leader, and was responsible for the unit overseeing the Dragon Kingdom."

The man put on a charming smile as he adjusted his glasses. He was normal, his aura devoid of anything truly menacing, yet Rodrik was terrified of his being, much more so than the disgusting blob of flesh which just spoke.

The man looked cold and calculating before he spoke,

"Excellent work, have the next of Chacomool's children take him, and be ready to move them back into position, Lupusregina will be visiting you soon in order to pay a visit to this one, it seems she wants a few moments with him herself."

The man looked him over once more, something of clear silver hiding behind his glasses and for a single second, he then chuckled something devilish before moving away from Rodrik's line of sight. A slight bit of panic overcame him as the withering mass seemed to be calling something over to him, and that panic turned to genuine terror as another shapeless being entered his vicinity.

This one was almost forgettable as it held no real form and seemed to shift and move with every second, never staying the same for long. Rodrik puzzled at what kind of evil entity this may be as it approached him. The hand, or rather a portion of its body seemed to reach out and touch Rodrik's body.

By this point Rodrik's forehead was drenched in sweat and nothing was helping as it rolled its way down and stung his eye, the pain was inconsequential next to what occurred before his very eyes.

The morphing creature began to slowly solidify, its body gaining proportion and its form starting to take shape, it became humanoid and grew a few centimetres. The hands elongated and the rest of its flesh took on a lightly tanned hue, the face became more and more distinct as Rodrik's fear peaked. His eyes were bloodshot as he stared unbelievingly... at himself!

'_That's me…'_

The fake Rodrik, smiled a knowing smile and spoke in his voice, "Bravo contingent, ready to resume overwatch."

It smiled again with its perfect imitation and looked at him once more before it walked away, disappearing from his peripherals, to assume his life.

* * *

Aura had been watching over the pair of would-be adventurers for some time now, and figured it would soon be time for her to make her grand entrance.

While it was true this mission was of great importance, her mind had been preoccupied with how she would make her appearance. She needed a wow factor and she couldn't figure out how to do it.

Luckily, she had plenty of time to think over the matter as they had travelled.

When the two had sped off into the desert, she had followed closely and watched from afar as they tried to traverse the desert sands on eight-legged horses. Aura had been interested in the species when it was revealed the Emperor had some, but after closer inspection she found them to be lacking in all categories. They were not particularly fast, had some manner of intelligence but were dull to her type of commands, and overall she could not justify keeping such weak creatures for any purposes other than food.

Unfortunately, when she had tried to feed one of the horses to her new frost dragon, she had been rebuked for costing the Emperor an expensive asset, but her lord was more than merciful in his punishment, only having her apologise to the little man.

Thus when these two took up the steeds, she was not very enthused, they made relatively decent time by human standards but Aura could have spanned this entire desert four times over by now, and even without any help from her pets.

She had been relatively saved from complete boredom when a massive lizard had blocked their path. Apparently the two had hoped to avoid battle with any of the denizens of the desert as they made their way to the city and Aura could understand their wish to travel under the cover of night, but she had sensed some sleeping creatures beneath and sands and vowed to return to see what they were capable of when they were active.

'_I hope at least one of them will be fun,'_ she thought hopefully.

The lizard was a Giant Basilisk, a notable thing she had remembered from the stories told about her supreme master's alter ego, Momon. She had heard it be said they were very powerful and the pair had some struggle fighting against it as they had to be wary of its gaze, but the entire show just reminded Aura of how weak these people were.

The Giant Basilisk was barely able to be considered noteworthy and it's only redeeming trait was its petrification, however such a limited ability is easily evaded, and with its massive body a fast strike or slash would be the end of it.

The fight had dragged on for the better part of thirty minutes. Apparently both of them had no intention of showing their true strength, or rather they were hiding their power for the sake of the fight with the Dragonlord, and Aura could find some sense in that.

When the fight ended they rested for a few minutes before continuing on, the Giant Basilisk had petrified one of the Sleipnir and they debated for quite some time how to proceed, they either had to share the remaining horse in order to traverse the rest of the way, or slow down and walk. The girl had immediately refused to be so near the Elf King and chose to walk, it had slowed them down quite considerably but Aura was understanding and very sure she knew why.

The guy was a creep and Aura was pretty sure he had something for boys from the way he was staring at her brother when they were on the sixth floor.

"I've heard of people with those kinds of dispositions, but Mare is so young, it's disgusting," she said to herself as she followed.

When they eventually came upon the giant castle floating above a ruined city, Aura was impressed enough to raise a single eyebrow.

This was no Nazarick but in comparison to the rest of this world it was a cut above anything else, with quickened haste, they made their way towards the city.

* * *

Zesshi was getting real tired of this shit, and she was overly joyous when Eryuentiu finally came into view.

She ran faster to lessen the time she would have with this freak and decided it was finally time for the greatest manner of justice which could be had.

From afar the city was impressive and its most notable feature, the massive floating castle spewing leagues of water upon the city below was something to behold.

Unfortunately, while this was neat, that was all. She somehow could no longer be truly satisfied with her world anymore, not since bearing witness to the realm of the Sorcerer King, and so, in a manner, she could not think such a thing was feasible by any mortal hands. Thus, while this sight was indeed impressive, it was sorely lacking in comparison to Nazarick.

Along with this dulled sense of surprise, the city itself was in need of some repair. Even as they came upon the gates, she could see the scars of a brutal and costly war, a testament to the wrath of the Eight Kings of Avarice.

The gate was somewhat intact and it held up to some of her strength when she tried to open it. This would be something which most normal people would never be able to move, not unless they had entered from a realm beyond or had aid from something like a dragonlord, however when she applied herself, the doors swung open and they began their journey into the city.

"You're welcome."

She said to the lazy piece of shit who had done nothing.

He lazily responded to her from atop her horse,

"A King need not bother himself with such matters, and besides, what good are servants if I must do everything myself?"

She had just about it with this prick and was about to reach for her scythe when a chill ran down her spine, she felt a gaze upon her and before she reacted she reigned herself in. She knew where this feeling came from and recognized it's meaning.

'_Fine, Fine I get it! Don't do anything stupid... not yet.' _She silently complained to herself.

Zesshi was not sure how skilled this individual was but to be able to so easily escape her senses and disappear was one thing but to be able to direct her presence only at her without alerting the Elf King was a whole other level. Whoever this being was, they were not to be trifled with, and that meant Zesshi had to control herself for at least a few more hours.

The pair walked further into the city, the place had indeed been beautiful once, she could see the remnants of a great civilization and had been curious as to what manner the world might have come out of the rule of the Eight.

"They teach us all of how horrible the Kings were, but maybe there was some good they might have given the world,"

She almost unconsciously spoke the words, allowing the broken yet marvelous scene to awe her for even just a bit. However, she immediately felt a wave of cold killing intent wash over the area and she spun to find the Elf King glaring at her.

His eyes were dark and cold with not the slightest hint of his previous lackadaisical demeanor. She saw cold-blooded murder and hate well within him and for a moment she was sure he would leap from his steed and attack her right there.

She kept her gaze fixed on him and did nothing, lowering her body slightly to receive an attack should it come, but as she looked on, she noticed something like regret and pain in his eyes as well.

It was strange, and it gave her pause to think perhaps something was wrong with him but before she could relay a question his gaze moved from her and he ushered his horse forward in silence.

She slowly relaxed and followed suit, there was no point in asking complex questions and whatever well those emotions came from was clearly deep and she had no intention of digging into his past, nor did she really care. Whatever reasons or intentions he had, any plans or goals would be gone with him when she severed his tie to this world and cleansed her mother's rape with his blood.

He finally dismounted when they came upon a grand set of stairs, leading as it seemed to a still operational portal, the swirling mass of black was clearly what led to the castle above. She knew how much magic it would take to operate something like that for such a long time, five hundred years was no short span and to keep such a thing active for that long would take a monstrous toll, this confirmed again the nature of these beings who had come from another world, and reaffirmed to her the danger which was clearly evident in the Sorcerer King.

This portal was indeed impressive but the things which were within the Sorcerer King's domain were clearly beyond this, and while she had not seen the rest of his world, after his small display of world breaking power, she knew that he would not even glance at something like this.

The pair approached the stairs as two massive stone golems came to life.

'_The guardians of the city, eh?' _thought Zesshi.

Zesshi had of course heard of the famous golems within Eryuentiu, many had tried to enter this city, and almost all had painfully failed.

She had also been somewhat cautious after entering, believing the city would be littered with more of these creatures, but perhaps the lizard above had planned for this and was simply giving them some weak, token resistance as they advanced.

She took to the side of a wall as the golems came closer and closer, taking up a position adjacent to the staircase and crossing massive halberds as a sign to denote no further passing would be allowed.

The Elf King glanced her way as this occurred, and she leaned against the wall, placed her beloved scythe next to her and crossed her arms, inclining her head to signal for him to take the show.

"You cannot be serious," he said.

His voice was filled with annoyance, but also coated with a tinge of anger,

"Oh please, your Majesty, after you."

She went so far as to bow slightly to him, and he grunted low as he walked forward, Zesshi was also curious to see what sort of strength these creatures would have.

The Elf King approached and took a ready stance a few meters from the golems. As one of the stony beings began shifting in rough movements, moving forward and creating a staggered wall, the Elf King balled his fist and launched himself at the golem.

With some unknown speed the golem in the back shifted itself to the front, taking the place of its counterpart, its weapon ready and low, thrusting at the approaching attack from the Elf King. Zesshi was bewildered by the agility of the massive stone structures and let her hands loose as she watched in slight delight as the halberd tip met the Elf King's body and jettisoned him backwards some thirty metres.

"HOLY SHIT!"

She descended into laughter at the sight, it was beyond imagination.

"Now I see why no one gets into this city."

These things would not be easy to defeat, but she figured he may be able to take care of this, from the rubble of a ruined wall the Elf King stood, his hands were bleeding and he had a large bruise over his left arm. He looked at the wounds in slight annoyance before his anger turned to the guarding golems and he again readied himself as he took a stance to ensure he would be able to properly attack this time.

He then activated a number of Martial Arts: [Reinforce Hide], [Greater Ability Boost], [Fortress], [Greater Reinforce Hide], [Iron Body], [Blessing of Morgoth].

His skin took on a golden hue and Zesshi watched with interest as he launched himself again, this time with his palms open. It seemed he was finally serious.

The golems resumed their normal staggered stance and when he approached within range, they switched places again.

The same attack was launched and the Elf King, having seen this move previously, evaded using [Shikuchi] as he moved past the effective range of the first golem. The second immediately launched a counterattack and as the first dropped its weapon and cleared the area, the second halberd was brought down, this time to the resounding ping of what seemed like metal upon metal.

The Elf King appeared to be completely unperturbed as he continued his strike and his massive palm smashed into the side of the retreating golem.

The creature did not feel pain but as sections of it crumbled away, it looked down before retrieving its weapon.

The second had already begun a secondary strike, sweeping a long arch across towards the body of the Elf King

Again no effort was made at evading the strike and the halberd was stopped by his skin alone.

Zesshi was interested in his ability, it reminded her somewhat of the ability of the former eighth seat of the Black Scripture, Cedren. She guessed it would be a highly improved version of [Fortress] and she recollected that if it worked similar to his then she knew how it was that near invincible defence could be penetrated.

She looked on as the fighting continued. Blows were traded with almost no consideration for their bodies, and before long the Elf King did something interesting, he retreated and evaded a swing from the crumbling golem. Zesshi narrowed her eyes as she saw his golden hue die down, his breathing was hard and she gave a devilish smile under her mask.

"Want help?" She called out.

"Fuck off!"

He responded. He took a deep breath and activated two particular arts: [Blessing of Morgoth] and [Iron Body Redux]

The art seemed to take a toll on him and she figured there was a danger in using it often.

Nonetheless he redoubled his efforts and launched himself at the golems, quickly beating the injured one to the ground.

There was something animalistic as he pounded away at the creatures, as if venting some long passed grudge and she looked on in slight interest which soon turned to boredom as he fought the single surviving golem.

The remainder of the fight did not last long. His impenetrable body, coupled with his palm strikes, were too much for the single sentry and in short order it too fell.

The Elf King stood among the rubble, still bleeding and breathing hard.

He spat on the remains and began to walk towards the horse.

He quickly retrieved a few vials of blue healing potions and drank them greedily, his wounds slightly recovering and his breathing resuming its normal pace.

"Let's get this over with, I've grown tired of doing all this manual work," he said as he turned around and began walking.

Zesshi pushed herself against the wall as he passed by, his gait full of purpose as he walked towards the stairs to the portal.

She gripped [Bane of Uranus] tightly as she followed behind.

"Yes... let's indeed get this over with."

Her eyes glossed over with murder and her hands trembled slightly with excitement.

This was her due.

This was her moment by right.

For over one hundred and fifty years she had been dreaming of this.

And her revenge was all but absolute.

'_Oh father of mine... it is time to die.' _She thought with glee.


	28. Chapter 28

**AN: Another chapter thanks to the proofing efforts of PervySage and ReligiousAtticLizard, there should be a new chapter coming out right after this so that'll be fun, see you all soon.**

**Chapter 28**

Raymond had ridden in relative silence back to Kami Miyako, and whether it was to his credit or to the blatant blindness of his peers, no one seemed to notice.

They were all too busy dreaming and going on about whatever world which would never come to pass and the more they spoke, in all honesty, the more he was seeing what demons they were hiding behind saintly skins.

During their ride, they had gone on and on about this perfect future they would build. One which consisted of complete and utter human domination. In their plans, they would subjugate the demi-humans and relegate them to permanent slaves without exception. As if this blanket policy was somehow more just and fair, its implication of total cruelty more pleasing in their minds before the gods.

Raymond had spent a lot of time outside the borders of the Theocracy, whether it be as a member of the Black, or the result of a petition of leave for his own exploration or for simple vacation purposes.

He knew quite well of the dangers associated with the demihumans and Beastmen and he understood how much of a general threat beings such as the battle-hungry Zoatia or the Stone Eaters were.

He had been in enough battles with their kind to know how much some enjoyed torturing the weak, how their means of living demanded blood as payment for fame or position.

He also knew that some did not crave needless violence, choosing to spare weaker beings, but only fought because it was expected. While others he had seen tore through villages like paper, human and non-human alike, killing and eating everything in sight, enjoying the thrill of it all.

The greater rationale was that Raymond knew this behaviour did not apply to every non-human creature, there were plenty who enjoyed a non-violent lifestyle and plenty more who abhorred the very concept of fighting entirely.

The Frogmen of the upper marsh regions were a prime example. In his time in the Black he had been sent alongside a scouting force to perform advanced reconnaissance on a potential uprising. He and another, the former 5th seat, were sent as escorts for the scouting teams.

Unfortunately, they had been given bad intel.

They encountered an ambush and suffered heavy losses before they were able to retreat.

When they were being chased, moments from capture and certain death, some wandering Frogmen had encountered them and given them shelter, hiding them among their people. For a few days Raymond had been kept safe by the very beings he had always been told were nothing but evil and lesser beings than them.

When the danger had passed, they had been allowed to leave on friendly terms. The chief of that village simply wished them well on their journey back, giving supplies and a guide to help them manage to evade the more dangerous regions.

It was experiences like these which had taught Raymond that the so-called opposition was just as human as he and his Cardinals were.

He had seen the cruelty left behind by some humans, the way they carved paths of blood and still would thirst for more. He had executed plenty of would-be rapists and killers of children, watching as the light faded from the eyes of those sick fucks and often it was no different from those more dangerous demihumans.

In his capacity as leader of the Scriptures, Raymond at times had ordered cruel acts to be done, the removal of otherwise innocent tribes of Beastmen so as to deprive others of a potential food source as a means to exert control over those regions and establish the Theocracy. However, he found no joy in this, no means of thinking which reduced those who had died as lesser than himself.

Thus watching the deepening glee of his fellow Cardinals as they raved about their intentions to brutalize and subjugate innocent people, Raymond had found himself at last disconnected from it all, and in truth, it made the rest of what he would do much easier. Hell, he even looked forward to it in some capacity.

Raymond was sitting in his office, going over some reports which had filtered in from the Windflower Scripture before the scheduled meeting with the others. They had rested quickly when they reached the capital and decided to reconvene once dawn had broken.

As Raymond placed down a piece of parchment, his shadow tugged at him and he glanced down as a pair of eyes appeared in the dark expanse beneath him. He knew the implications of the gesture.

When Raymond had made his deal with the Sorcerer King, certain measures were implemented immediately as a sign of their agreement. The Sorcerer King, oddly enough, seemed to actually care for the Cardinal and had given him a protector of sorts to ensure his safety, one that even Zesshi had acknowledged as relatively powerful, high praise from that torrent of death.

The shadow at his behest was almost completely undetectable. The Sorcerer King had assured him that only a very few select class of individuals would have the capability of detecting it and was positive none existed here.

Regardless of this, the creature had been with him the entire course of the previous few days and whenever it stirred it meant there would be communication with its master.

Raymond glanced at it and nodded, signifying he was ready for the usual procedure. Almost immediately everything stopped, and the world froze.

Each time this occurred Raymond was just flabbergasted. He had seen this a few times now and each instance of the Sorcerer King's magic was simply beyond his ability to truly comprehend. As the very air itself stood stock still, a black mass opened and the Sorcerer King walked through, his regal bearing and towering stature overwhelming the room almost immediately.

It was crazy to Raymond that he could just waltz into the very heart of the Theocracy without a care and effectively without any detection whatsoever. Should he have been truly antagonistic towards them, he could have destroyed their country years ago. A testament to his intentions in Raymond's eyes, if he wanted to hurt them, it was clear he could... very, very easily.

But thinking too much on such things would just give him a headache.

Raymond stood to greet his guest.

"Welcome your Majesty."

"Umu, Cardinal Raymond, I trust all is well."

"It is, we have just returned and I will be briefing the others in a conference soon, preparations on my part for the reports is almost complete."

"Excellent work, I came to inform you that we have secured your Windflower and Clearwater Scriptures but worry not, I will ensure they are not harmed in any manner during their stay."

This news shocked Raymond and he asked, "What, you've secured both scriptures?"

"Indeed, all contingents as well, and I have replaced them with suitable imitations, thus the reports you receive will, of course, be false, ensuring nothing is detected as we move forward."

In the time they had left E-Rantel, the Sorcerer King had retired all the information gathering groups in their arsenal and replaced them with his own agents?

That sort of efficiency was frighteningly dangerous, and Raymond swallowed hard at the implication that even if he had not turned coat, they would have already been playing in his hands. A hard grin fell upon him at the terrifying thought of trying to outsmart a being who was effectively feeding you information.

'_The hell does he even need me for then?'_

"Please excuse my imprudence, but if this is all set then what use am I exactly?"

Raymond couldn't reason why his proposition was even considered, the Sorcerer King clearly did not need him to win, and the only one gaining anything from his involvement was Raymond.

The Sorcerer King took a moment before answering,

"I will need you to ensure they continue to plan and proceed as they see fit. Your critical role will be to keep them in their current state of affairs."

"As well, I have a wealth of respect for you, Cardinal. Your dedication to your people and willingness to spare no danger to ensure their survival will keep you to your word and it will make you an effective leader once the fighting is done. To care so for one's fellow man enough to brave a seemingly insurmountable danger is not a trait many carry and one I very much hold in high esteem."

Raymond would think deeply over those words.

"I'm... I'm just doing right by those who believe in me... in us."

"And sometimes Cardinal, that is the hardest thing for people to do, to place aside what we believe as individuals to see the greater benefit or detriment in a situation. Your compatriots have allowed their hate, ideology and fear to cloud their judgment. You have faced all those and remained strong in your steadfast charge to lead and provide for the Theocracy even if it means changing it."

The rest of their interaction was brief and before long, if that even really counts at all when in a moment of frozen time, the Sorcerer King bid him farewell and returned to Nazarick.

Things resumed their normal cadence as Raymond began his preparations to meet with the rest of the Cardinals. He gathered his things and his spirit and began making his way towards the meeting chamber.

* * *

Slyvin was a little nervous, but all in all everything was going rather smoothly. The past few days had been strange with the Cardinal's departure and his team being put to work as priests.

Their faith in the six was strong, their belief in their mission absolute but no amount of training or natural talent could prepare them for the hell which came with having to listen for hours on end at the rants of teenage girls and the petty problems they had.

By the end of the first day of being a 'priest' he had already promised to end himself should he be subjected to having to listen to one more confession of how a girl was having issues with another over some boy, how this boy was confused by not being able to understand her inner thoughts and how she was clearly more deserving of him than that bitch Natasha from down the street.

This exercise had been rough on the majority of them, with his team complaining that they would rather fight a hundred Basilisks than have to face more of this torture.

Luckily that had ended rather quickly. The rest of the Black had joined them a few hours prior, having managed to traverse the tricky sewer system of the city and make it to the temple.

With his entire force assembled, Slyvin was feeling rather well about himself. Everything was going according to plan and things proceeded normally. They would easily have the city under their command by morning.

He had quickly debriefed the joining members and in turn briefed them on the course of attack. They went through which routes they would take to effectively take control of the city. What areas of importance were vulnerable for an initial attack, how to deal with the forces which were stationed in the city proper and of course, the demi-humans. The briefing continued and when the mention of Momon had come up, a few of them had been rather enthused and extremely excited about the prospect of meeting such a powerful individual and personal hero.

In truth, a lot of the Black thought highly of the Dark Hero. His exploits had caused a great number of debates of whether he was a god-kin and his humble nature had indeed earned him quite a few admirers, with Number Four being particularly an avid fan of his. Slyvin knew he would have to keep an eye on her actions around the man considering her more than erratic personality.

Regardless of this, once everything was done they knew their roles and everyone was allowed to rest and recuperate before any action would be taken They would wait until they were at full strength and when Momon was present, they would begin the operation and hopefully finish with minimal resistance.

The wait was much shorter then he had anticipated and before long everyone was grouped together in a storage house with the entire force of the Black Scripture ready and waiting in silence. His favourite spear had been fetched for him and he felt complete. Altogether he felt strong. He felt very good and in short order, a knock came at the door, one of the temple priests poked his head in.

"Sir, Momon the Black is here."

Slyvin's heart thumped just a bit and the entire group raised their head in anticipation. He gave them an approving nod and turned his waiting eyes towards the door.

Moments later a figure began stepping into the room, its aura overwhelming the cramped space and Slyvin's eyes widened as he took in the hulking form of the Dark Hero, Momon.

His body was clad in pitch black armour and not a single portion of his skin was visible between the heavy links and plate mail. He looked to be a tank in some comparison but the way he moved made it obvious to Slyvin that he had speed on top of power and nothing seemed to be restricting him in any manner.

The handles of his long twin swords were visible behind his helmet, the length of them carrying down his entire body to the very tips which were exposed nearly reaching his feet. The sword's weight was evident to Slyvin and he gulped at the idea of swinging such behemoths, much less with a single arm. While such a thing was possible for him given his strength, he knew he would not be effective in any manner in an actual fight if he had such weighted weapons.

Regardless, the swords gave him a divine aura with the entire ensemble being completed by a long red cape draped over his back.

The man's form spoke of power, pure and absolute and when he made to introduce himself, the voice beneath the helmet was crisp, deep and resonated within his entire body.

This was a hero.

A legend in the flesh.

"Hello, I am Momon of Darkness."

Slyvin pulled himself quickly to his feet to greet the man, looking down at the extended hand as Momon came closer.

"A pleasure, I am Slyvin Lenois Struve, the Captain of this band of warriors."

"A pleasure to make your acquaintance, I'll be frank, I am quite surprised. You seem very young."

The comment was not new but hearing it from this paragon of strength gave Slyvin a touchy bit of pause. Luckily, his team was quick to recover for him with Number Five calling out from behind.

"Ha! If all of us were as dangerous as our Captain at that age, the Theocracy would have ruled this world some time ago."

The joke seemed lost on the man, his body not moving to show any real signs of humour or annoyance and he replied simply, "I see, youth does not signify inexperience, and regardless of your age, such trust from your teammates is something to be admired. Now, I had heard of your strategy from the Cardinals, but please, explain your plan to me again."

His means of speaking was respectful and soft, something which detracted from the incredible power he was capable of but regardless, he seemed serious and now was the time for action.

Slyvin quickly brought him to a map of the city. Some parts of the map had small dots pointed out with the rest of his unit watching quietly as he went on to explain the plan.

"We will leave this building in pairs, each heading towards a specific location in the city," he pointed to the various points blacked out.

"Each area is a large hub, allowing us to quickly establish ourselves and rein in any would-be heroes quickly."

At this point eyes went to Momon, everyone present knew of his dedication to the people of E-Rantel, and they were very curious to know how this individual would take to them subtly threatening the people of his city.

"I have spoken with guild master Ainzach and every adventuring team in the city, they are aware of the situation and no one will come forward so long as no citizens are harmed."

One of the members spoke out,

"Even the demihumans?"

The man did not move when he replied, but his tone was absolute.

"None of them..."

'_That answers that.' _thought the Captain.

Slyvin gave a quick glance to his party and made sure that they understood what kind of situation this presented. He knew the majority of his group had no qualms about hunting and killing demi-humans, with a few being a little too excited whenever opportunities arose. Thus, being restricted in this manner would raise some complaints among them, but so long as they could effectively put down any threats then everything should be fine.

"Very well, we will adhere to those restrictions so long as none of them attack us in return."

Momon seemed to take a small moment to think over the matter before replying,

"That is acceptable."

Once they overcame that small hurdle the rest of the planning was effectively easy. The pairs were made very quickly, those who had chemistry paired together immediately and soon it was a matter of whom Momon would be going with.

The fourth seat had immediately volunteered but Slyvin shot the idea down. Without number eleven here, they had odd numbers but Momon evened that. Thus to ensure no… issues occurred. Slyvin paired himself with Momon, something he knew some others were a bit jealous about but regardless, this was the most professional means of going forward. Thus it made sense.

Once everything was set out and the teams knew their positions they began to depart in a staggered formation out into the city one after the other, taking care not to seem too strange just yet. The members were all given cloaks to hide themselves in. Nothing too suspicious but enough to make them slightly unrecognizable, or to not draw too much attention. Finally, once all the teams had set out, Slyvin turned to Momon and asked if he was ready. Confirmation was given and they began to leave.

The walk towards their destination would be relatively short and along the way the crowds had seemed happy and carefree. Slyvin looked on as waves of people would turn and happily smile in their direction, looking at the towering man in black in adoration.

"They really seem to hold you in high regards."

His gait did not stumble and he continued to walk on as he responded to Slyvin's statement.

"I would hope my presence gives them reassurance, but I suspect it is the same with your own people."

Slyvin responded in a quiet tone, making sure to not be overheard,

"Not particularly, my team and I, in all honesty, don't actually exist, we are ghosts, so to say."

The price of being a member of the scriptures was steep. Among them was the fact that no one would sing any songs of their exploits, no fame would be had for their bravery or any statues erected in their honour. They performed a duty in the shadows, but it was one which Slyvin was more than happy to perform, his service to the Theocracy meant the betterment of humanity. His commitment to the Black was assured by the knowledge that everything they did would bring them one step closer to realizing the goal of a safe human world, a better world.

"That must be difficult, on you and your team."

Momon's response brought a small smile to his face and he answered,

"We do what we do not for fame, but to ensure we can contribute even a little to the goal which lies ahead of us."

"Ahh, I see. That is quite noble, and do you believe the taking of this city to be a part of that?'

Slyvin frowned slightly,

"No. If I were to choose, I would not be so keen to make war with anyone, but likewise, I must follow my directives. Orders are orders, and we must carry them out to the end."

"Does the rest of your team share in that ideal?"

"I believe some might, while others have their own thoughts about the matter, and of the other components of this city's population. The demihumans here may be peaceful but there are many who would not hesitate to strike them down simply for being demihumans, they are a threat."

"Even though they are not a threat, as you have assessed?"

"Whether they are a threat now is not the issue, for us to prosper, they must be destroyed, that is the way of the world."

"Hmm… Then it seems I have asked a truly pointless question."

As they finished their simple conversation, they arrived at their destination, the Second wall, a section of the city where many people were gathered.

It was a recreational area, where the city's residents could come and consume or read about current news and other such things. It was a popular area and thus made it easy to get a message across to a large majority of people very quickly. The six teams had split up and each went to a similar area of high population density and when the city's bell tower struck three rings, they would all reveal themselves and announce their intentions.

Because Momon was so well known, he had strayed a little ways away from Slyvin so as to not draw too much attention to him, and when they arrived it was a few minutes before the appointed time. Slyvin was a touch nervous and he closed his eyes to grip his resolve about all that was to come. Following the taking of the city, they would proceed to quickly destroy what remained of the undead guards, the task most likely being the most critical component of this phase. The power of the Death Knights was not to be taken lightly but with the Black Scripture and Momon's help he was more than confident they would be able to take care of the monsters relatively easily.

Once that was complete they would await the arrival of the main Theocracy force. From what he was told, some two hundred and fifty thousand soldiers had been prepared and were being deployed here. That phase was to take no more than a day once they held the city. Thus the first twenty-four hours would be the hardest, they had to keep order until they could station permanent guards throughout the city proper.

As the thoughts ran through his mind, a great toll was heard throughout the city. The bells chimed thrice and Slyvin steeled his resolve to make his appearance. He stood quickly and made way to cast off his cloak, a dramatic act to be sure, but he figured this would be the only instance he would get to do such a thing, thus he chose to live it up just a bit.

As he threw off the cloak and revealed himself, a tiny light was shining below him. He looked down at the stone street and found he was standing in the middle of a crest. It shone with a strong magical light and it was very familiar. As his brain pieced the puzzle together he quickly made to try and leave its vicinity and found he was stuck. His entire body would not move, Slyvin was trapped.

'_Crap!'_

The light intensified and Slyvin had to shut his eyes, the last thing he saw was the confused expressions of some townfolk.

He counted a few seconds and opened them again. A slight ringing was in his ear and once his eyes were used to the light he looked around, quickly spotting five pairs of confused looking individuals.

'_They got everyone…'_

The thought terrified him, all of this was planned, and as he looked over his team, he began to survey his surroundings and the small feeling of unease turned into a wave of full-blown terror.

He recognized this place.

He was standing in the middle of a large pit of sand, encircled on every side by high, stone viewing platforms.

This was an arena.

More specifically, it was the arena of the Sorcerer King.

"Welcome, intruders."

A female voice rung out across the entire structure, his team became frantic as they quickly flew to him and formed up in a circle, making sure to have every vantage point covered.

The owner of the voice made herself known and from one of the pavillons came five world-class beauties. Each of them was a sight unto herself, with each of them dressed in the appearance of a maid, with the odd addition of some armour included in their outfits.

Slyvin was now in a state of shock as the maid in the front with a pair of glasses and her hair in two distinct buns spoke again,

"You have been captured infiltrating our state, with the intention to harm our citizens and make war with our master. For that, you have been brought here to be punished for your crimes."

"Where are we!"

One of the newer additions to his group yelled out. The rest who had been here were all too stunned to speak, but as they heard their comrade call out to the maid, they quickly made to recollect themselves, Slyvin being among them.

"This is the Sixth Floor of the Great Tomb of Nazarick. Now, if there are no more questions, we shall begin."

She clapped her hands, and Slyvin's heart sank into despair.

* * *

For as long as he could remember Lord Revu Noil E'tole had been privileged. He was the second son of a wealthy merchant family in the Theocracy and while it usually spelt doom for any spares who were born into his position, he had been lucky.

He had joined the military.

Because of his condition, life had been a little hard for Revu. This path had indeed allowed him to make more of a name for himself but it often came at the cost of doing actual work, and gods be damned if he should be subjected to such things often.

He did his best in spite of this, and quickly used his father's connections and his name to get himself into the right positions at the right times. Revu had been inducted into the officer corps early, saving him from any forced action on the elven front. Thus he remained behind the lines and strategized and while he was not very good at that, he found people who could do the work for him and still gain the credit for himself.

This sort of thing was dishonest, yes, but it was not a crime before the gods and so he could continue to rise in rank without worrying too much for his soul. Revu made a name for himself as a reliable commander and thus was handed assignment upon assignment, excelling at them all. At least that's what his file would read. He had connections at the administrative offices who could change anything if need be and would recommend him for easy and very quick work if it would bring him honours.

And thus the present situation... Revu was riding atop his horse at the head of a large force, the first of its kind. He was the overall commander for the invasion force of the Sorcerous Kingdom and for the first time in his career, he was not only truly invested in his position, but also in the mission at hand.

Ever since the massacre at the Katze Plains, Revu had petitioned over and over for the Theocracy to invade and destroy this vile collection of evil which had sprouted along their northern border and each time he heard excuses and denial. He had been extremely depressed when he heard that the Supreme Council would be entertaining an invitation from that accursed undead. But when they sent advanced word to prepare a sizable force, end hostilities with the Elves and make way for an invasion of E-Rantel, he had been ecstatic. All his prayers were answered and he had immediately petitioned to be made part of the force.

Revu had been briefed on the ongoing situation occurring in the Dragon Kingdom. They were soon to be facing a Beastman force the likes of which the world had never seen. It spelt doom for those heretics and he was all the more happy to know they would be condemned. Along with this he had been secretly briefed about the fact that the Cardinals would be tasking the Black Scripture with taking E-Rantel and sending a force to occupy it while the Sorcerer King was absent from his seat of power. All these actions culminated into the perfect opportunity.

His heart leapt for joy when he was given command over the entire two hundred thousand plus army and was tasked with going to E-Rantel and holding it.

Revu now was making great time towards the city, he had knowledge that the invincible Black Scripture was already there and would soon begin their operation to hold the city, but he was critical in that plan as he needed to arrive quickly enough to relieve them of the duty of holding the entire city. Such a task would make him a hero. Men would praise his name, women would lust for him and children would dream of growing to become like him. It was perfect, truly and utterly a gift from the gods.

So he basked in this dream for the entire march. It had been easy and very smooth, the weather had even been perfect. The birds sang as he went to each predetermined town to add more soldiers to his number and as they crossed the border nothing had hindered them, not the terrain and not even that cursed fog which had been reported to roam the Sorcerous Kingdom.

All of this made for a very happy commander and he, in turn, ensured his soldiers were happy. But as he was going about his merry way, a scouting force member returned to give him news. They had spotted someone blocking their path at the top of a rise.

"What do you mean, there is someone in the way?"

Revu was trying to not be annoyed, everything had been going well, thus there was no reason to be too annoyed now. They would make peace with this passerby and continue forward.

"It is as we say sir, it appears to be a child."

"I see,... Take me there."

Revu thought the matter over. They were perhaps a few hours from the city and so it made sense that perhaps a family or so was out this way, and so he decided to make his way personally towards the top and see this child himself. He would not stop the march but if things could be handled quickly then being at the front would mean he would be first to enter the city and declare it free.

The ride towards the very front was quick, and he had given word for his army to quicken its pace so as to arrive in dramatic fashion as he conversed with this child, to show the force which he carried behind him.

Very quickly a short figure came into view and Revu smirked as he thought over what to say. From about one hundred meters away, he could see something like armour on the body of the child. He couldn't make out the details but the sight was indeed odd, but he thought the matter of no importance and pressed on.

About thirty meters away he called for a full stop and his force halted at the top of the formation. Revu looked over the sight, it was very, very odd indeed. This whole scene was strange, but he was also a touch confused.

The child was standing in the middle of the paved way towards E-Rantel and in the far off distance he could maybe make out where the city would be.

It was a small girl, her skin an alabaster white and almost a touch sickly, yet she was quite beautiful. Her hair was a platinum silver, long and very luscious. He imagined her combing it over every night before bed and thought it might be a point of pride for her.

She was standing with her eyes closed and her arms crossed, but the weirdest thing about her was indeed the fact that she was wearing armour, although to be certain, the armour was... odd.

It was a bright, deep red as if made of blood itself. It curved upwards towards the back and held some of her hair in two long strands behind her. It had what looked like an open skirt facing towards the front and it complemented itself by being compact and tight against her skin. The whole scene made her seem both very beautiful and extremely strange and overall, that was what struck him most about it all... its utter strangeness.

Regardless of this, he had places to be and peoples to conquer, thus he yelled out to her.

"Hello, child, please move, we must make way."

Just as he spoke the child moved, her hands coming slowly down to her sides. As she did so the horse he was riding began to buckle just a bit, becoming nervous. Revu looked down and kicked the steed to calm it.

He returned his sight towards the girl and founds his entire body frozen at what he saw, a wave of fear coming over him as two bright, blood red eyes stared towards him.

He gulped loudly as the fear crept its way upwards and before he could yell out to his now arriving army the girl spoke. Her voice seemed so loud yet strangely soft. It sounded as if she was right next to him, and her tone licked his senses as she spoke her words.

"[Widen Magic: Mass Hold Species]"


	29. Chapter 29

**AN; Thanks again to the awesome efforts of PervySageChuck and ReligiousAtticLizard we have a double release today, yay. Please review and comment and let me know what you guys think, this particular chapter was a touch harder to write as I really wanted to deliver the most justice possible to Zesshi's character, let me know how I did, and Thank you again to my awesome beta readers and proofing team. See you all soon.**

**Chapter 29**

Tsaindorcus had been patiently awaiting the pair of intruders for some time. Once the Sorcerer King dismissed the summit participants, well the good ones anyway, he immediately cut off his connection to the armour and returned to his own body.

He had kept tabs when the city gates had been opened, and had ensured to deactivate all the normal golems within the city. The only two which would be left active regardless of his wishes were the strongest two, the pair which guarded the portal to the castle itself.

The fighting below had sparked his interest, and while he was unable to reveal himself fully, he could peek out and see some of the action. It was a satisfying sight to see the Elf King so thoroughly thrashed about, but as everything died down he returned to his resting spot in the main hall. This is where they will head once they have teleported here and so he waited.

The pair had been rather slow to make it up once the golems were defeated, most likely recovering some strength and getting ready to fight again.

He looked on with relative ease as the magic began to form a black portal at the very far end of the hall, furthest from his line of sight and from it the Elf King stepped out first. He was full of hate and purpose, and his normal lazy attitude was nowhere to be found. This seemed much more genuine, and it pleased Tsaindorcus to see this old bastard so frustrated.

Tsaindorcus had some idea of who or rather what he was, his species had been gone for some time and their tale was another cruel heritage of the Eight Kings whose home he now claimed. Not far from here had lived another ancient civilization, one which had been close to the power of the Dragonlords of old.

His father, The Dragon Emperor Bahamut, had told him stories of how long ago an Elf had appeared whose power was so great that none of the members of the former Draconic Council could single-handedly defeat him. They had watched him for some time and found him to not be a threat, his actions were rather peaceful, subjugating some humans and building a colony for himself. Soon his intentions were to put to begetting an heir and he went on to sire an entire line of children, and while they too were powerful they did not threaten to disturb the balance of power.

The Elf would go on to be worshipped as a living god by his children, and eventually a dead one, but his children, the High Elves, would remain strong and resilient, holding on to the vestiges of their father's physical prowess for generations. Until they somehow disappeared almost overnight, and soon after the first reports of the Castle flying high above the desert and of the Eight Kings quickly came through.

Tsaindorcus knew the logical thing would be to assume the Kings had something to do with it and for a time he had thought that if he could ever bring himself to stand to be in the presence of the Elf King he would ask. However such things did not matter now, Tsaindorcus was quite sure of how this present situation would end, and it was not in a manner which allowed him to question this being of the past.

Quickly on the tail of the Elf King was a masked person, it smelled like a female and he recognized her as an escort of the Theocracy, the same who had battled the Elf King into submission during the summit.

'_I'm sure they must have had fun travelling here.'_

They had completely different dispositions as they strolled in the hall, her aura seemed much more jovial. He knew she had taken a measure of pleasure from his battle below and perhaps what was to come. Perhaps she hated the elf enough to find any measure of pain caused to him enjoyable, even when it was not directly caused by her?

He wasn't sure which of the two he felt more pity for, but as they entered the great hall he made to begin his 'act'. Tsaindorcus had been told of the participation of the Theocracy agents, and their involvement in all this. Apparently, they held some vendetta against the Elf King, and sought to gain recompense for it. Tsaindorcus understood revenge very well, it was a feeling that had fueled him for quite a long time following the death of his father and siblings and so in memory of those times, he would allow her to enact her justice within his home.

He made himself stand on alert at their presence and released his aura as they approached.

"Elf King, What is the meaning of this!"

He roared out in defiance, his body now fully erect and his regal bearing on full display, the Platinum Dragonlord was no small creature. His entire form dwarfed those of the twin dragonlords, and while the hall was indeed large, he quickly consumed space as he simply stood.

"We've come here to kill you, you overgrown lizard. Now be a good boy and lay down, I'm in no mood for playing around,"

The Elf King replied angrily as he continued to approach.

"It seems you mistake me for one of your unfortunate partners, you will not get me to lay down so easily,"

"Oh, I'm counting on it."

The Elf King was in a ready stance, and while his body seemed to be fresh for battle, Tsaindorcus knew he was in no condition to fight on his own, nor would he necessarily win even if he was at full strength. The High Elves were strong, their physical prowess was impressive and some of them were very resistant to many forms of magic, but there was a reason they did not dominate the old world. Luckily Tsaindorcus knew he would not have to resort to any of his truly destructive powers during the course of this exchange. He wanted to keep his house in relative order after all, and unleashing some measures of his powers would be anti-beneficial to that end.

He made to attack and swept his tail casually to draw the Elf King backwards, gaining the distance between them as a momentary distraction, he was about to make a statement when a great boom was heard in the far distance, underneath them. Confusion settled between them all for a moment before something truly crazy happened.

The Castle was built with a large open space which was visible from the Main Hall, it was this place which allowed for mounts to readily enter and exit, and Tsaindorcus used it when he travelled in and out of the castle to hunt for food and other such things.

When the sound had rung out, the trio had turned towards this open space and witnessed a small black dot flinging itself quickly past into the air. The scene was already insane, but as a few moments passed, the thing returned to the ground and it made its landing directly in the centre of the open area's pad. It's force was unbelievable, cracking the valuable stone working and completely shaking the entire castle.

Before Tsaindorcus could react concerning the damage caused to his home, he found himself gawking over the tiny creature who had just landed. It was an elf, one of the Sorcerer King's aides, and it was completely ecstatic as it waved at them, cheering itself as it began to run over.

When the shock finally moved through him, he recalled the damage and in an undignified manner yelled out.

"...My fucking house!"

* * *

Zesshi was now just standing with her eyes wide open as the little elf boy ran towards them, running was an understatement for the crazy speed this elf was displaying in this situation. The distance between the end of the hall and where they stood was immense, and with every stride he seemed to cover leagues. Even with her sight she could not make out the end but had felt the disturbances when it had occurred, thus when the dot began making its way, it had been more of a swift jump over to their location. That sort of physical strength was not normal, by any standard, not for elves and certainly not even for her, she could now definitively say this boy was strong. Very, very strong.

The rush of wind that seemed to accompany him blew over all of them as he arrived.

"Hello, hehe!"

The jovial announcement was met with silence, no one spoke a word, and the only sound was the quick footsteps of the boy as he quickly approached and fell into a lazied pace.

Zesshi was both confused and a touch impressed, she knew whoever had been following them was skilled, extremely skilled to be able to not only keep pace with their horses but also ensure they were never detected, even by mistake. She also knew they were close the entire time, sending him hints of their presence to ensure she remembered they were with them, and the fact they had never been detected by the Elf King was even more impressive.

Zessi had expected the one tailing them to be some otherworldly creature, perhaps something shrouded in black clothes and darkness. But seeing the small elf, clad in a tailored suit with red dragon scale beneath... well, it was unexpected to say the least.

'_Expecting anything normal from the Sorcerer King was my first mistake'_ She reproached herself.

The Elf King was first to break the deadlock, turning first towards the massive dragonlord.

"You were so afraid of us you decided to ask the Sorcerer King for help, what a pity, Tsaindorcus. Here I thought you at least had your pride."

The dragonlord was given no time for a response. The Elf King quickly turned around and ignored him. As Zesshi looked on she did not get the sense the dragon even had a response to give, not seeming to care for the comment. He was focused on the situation, watching the boy as he approached even closer.

The kid was ecstatic, and the closer he got the more Zesshi could appreciate the charming young man, his features were even more impressive up close.

The Elf King strode past her at an annoyed pace, and began to speak,

"I would not have expected the Sorcerer King to be so crass as to send a child here. Irregardless, you will be coming with me once this is all done, little boy."

He reached out to grab the child, his fingers just about making it to the helm of his suit top when a gloved hand shot its way towards his and stopped him cold. A look of immediate discomfort came over his face and the boyish charm melted from the elf, his features twisting into one of disgust and hate.

The child twisted its hand and the Elf King let out a loud grunt as his body followed suit. Zesshi looked on in shock as the mighty king was brought to his knees before the boy, his eyes now displaying none of their previous playful light. This was the look the strong gave one of the weak who stepped out of line. This was a look of domination, and the more Zesshi looked on, the more she got a turn on by it all.

'_Yes... He is strong!'_

The Elf King was now on both his knees, his hand still within the grip of the Elf, and pain evident on his features,

"First of all, you will watch how you speak about Lord Ainz. Any mention of his glorious being from your dirty mouth will be with utter respect."

The boy twisted, and a roar of pain came from the Elf King. Zesshi's eyes glossed with lust over this display of power.

'_Yes... Yess… YESSSSS!'_

"And second, don't call me boy, I'm a girl."

"_WAIT! WHAT?!" _

The thought gave way to words as she lost all her previous build up, her mind now suspended between broken lust and utter shock and disappointment that the first being in forever who could potentially satisfy her needs was not capable.

'_DAMN IT ALL!' _She screamed internally.

A part of her was not just beyond disappointed before a thought came to her, and she ventured to ask,

"Is the other elf also a girl?"

The boy now girl looked up, and as she did Zesshi looked at her and could now see the feminine features. It made sense, perhaps she simply enjoyed dressing as such for the freedom of movement.

"You mean Mare?" Zesshi nodded unknowingly, and the girl responded: "Nah, he's a boy."

"Then why.." she began.

"Does he dress like a girl?"

Zesshi nodded and from the corner of her eyes she could see a pained Elf King also looked up in curiosity. The boyish dressing girl noticed this as well and before she answered she looked down at the hand she was still holding. In a feat of absolute strength, she lifted the Elf King in one fluid movement and swung his body around as if it was a toy. She then flung him against one of the walls in the hall and a loud audible grunt accompanied his crash against the ornate building.

The girl was completely unperturbed as she answered as if she had not just man-handled one of the most powerful beings in the world.

"It's how we were created, Lord Ainz says our creator, Lady Bukubukuchagma, wanted us to be special and so dressed us differently... though he also says Mare is a trap, but we have yet to figure out what that means?"

"Ahh,... I see, so.. is she.. HE! As strong as you?"

The words crooked out of her head, and she awaited the answer wishfully,

"Hmm yeah, he is pretty strong, more so than I am even though he specializes in magic, so the bulk of his power is more based on that. I have my charms though since I am a tamer, so I am more physically agile and much faster than he is."

She had a proud look on her face as she spoke, then looked up inquisitive and continued,

"However Mare is one of the most powerful guardians in a one on one situation so you could say he is even stronger than me in that regard, but... I can handle a legion of enemies better than he can because of my pets."

All this was good news to Zesshi and the satisfying feeling of anticipation returned somewhat, her face became flushed red again as she thought about the possibility of defeat, she let out a tiny grin.

From the corner of the room, a faint golden light began to emanate from the beaten Elf King. He stumbled to his feet, using the wall to hold himself up, and his glowing body exuded a white-hot rage as he shouted out his hatred.

"I HAVE HAD ENOUGH OF YOU, EVERYONE DIES!"

The room's denizens looked on at his display of rage in mild silence as he began to charge himself, and in a very unceremonious manner, Zesshi stepped forward and faced him. The Elf King showing a puzzled expression as she did.

"Oh, I'll kill you soon enough brat," said the king, "but have you forgotten, we're supposed to be on the same team, idiot?"

He reprimanded her as she reached up and began to undo her cloak, the covering holding her hair falling away with it, and exposing the entirety of her black and white follicles, a smile took her as she saw the confusion evident on the Elf King's face.

She began the process of undoing her mask, and as she finished she allowed it to fall slowly, revealing her face, her eyes wide open to not miss a single expression on his face.

The Elf King had been looking at her, first in annoyance at her stepping to face him, then in mild surprise, and as the mask came away, wide eyes met hers, realization dawning upon him and his body returning to its normal state. He began to walk forwards slightly before she gripped her scythe and brandished it before her.

"Well hello, _Father_."

She soaked that last word in pure hatred, and he stopped moving as he realized what was going on.

"So… has the Theocracy gone so far as to ally themselves with the Undead?"

"No, just me. Don't worry, the Sorcerer King has promised me that I'll be looking on, laughing while they get what's coming to them. But here and now, you're all mine."

She brought her scythe forward in a glorious arch, tracing the weapon skillfully as she twirled it to her side, her body got low as she readied herself to strike.

To his credit no more words were exchanged, it seems he understood the situation, and he began his windup, calling forth some of his more advanced arts immediately.

[Greater Reinforce Hide] [Focus Battle Aura] [Dull Pain] [Ability Boost] [Greater Ability Boost] [Instant Reflex] [Limit Breaker] [Greater Evasion] [Fortress] [Iron Body] [Balrog's Descendant] [Blessing of Morgoth] [Greater Blessing of Arun]

He was stacking quite a lot from the beginning and as she had yet to hear his more powerful arts, that meant he wished to end this in one strike. Zesshi knew this would not be a prolonged fight. She would need to go all out now or suffer for it.

His body now had gone through a dramatic transformation and Zesshi was more than a little impressed by the power he was releasing. In truth, she was a bit worried.

His hardened skin turned into a golden black colour, akin to rust and his heterochromatic eyes were outlined in red and black. It gave him the appearance of a sunken batman, a vile bloodlust permeated the entire room and he quickly took to crouching.

Zesshi was already using her own martial arts and had enough sense to realize that she would not be able to draw enough blood, in the beginning, to rely on her weapon's ability, but she also knew that he would not be able to keep up this form for long. He would seek to finish her as quickly as possible, and that would be his mistake.

She stacked her own Martial Arts in a specific pattern, to ensure she would not over tax her body too quickly. If she could not completely destroy him now, she would evade and block until she could land critical strikes, and so she began to call forth her specialized Martial Arts.

[Ability Boost] [Greater Ability Boost] [Evasion] [ Greater Evasion] [Greater Reinforce Hide] [Sense Weakness] [Greater Increase Agility]

She knew her limit was about eight arts, without going too far, and so she would keep one in reserve for when he began his battle rhythm. She had seen him fight enough to understand his usual style of attack. He would rush forward with little regard to attack because of his invincible body, and so she would counter by being nimble.

Zesshi took a deep breath in to calm her racing mind as he got low and began his attack.

* * *

Aura was standing off to the side as the two fighters took their places. She had watched as the one paedophile used a lot of Martial Arts. He was using them one after the other and his body was growing and changing with each one. Finally, the girl started using some as well, and Aura looked on as they quickly felt much stronger, strong enough even to give her a serious fight.

'_Well, so long as I don't use any of my pets or skills...'_

Aura had heard her master speak about the Martial Arts, how they augmented the creatures of this world and acted like spells for warriors. It was interesting watching them in person and being utilized by such capable individuals. She had been given an unfavourable view of the arts when those ants had invaded Nazarick, one of them could use Martial Arts but they were faced against the Supreme Being, thus they had no chance of victory from the very beginning and they were too weak to even register as enemies. However, she had seen these two use some when they last fought, but this time seemed much more serious. When they finished their preparations they once more calmed themselves, and silence returned to the room as they eyed each other for an opportunity to begin the fight.

The male elf jumped forward, he had his hands opened to strike her and used another art to slide his way to her, closing the distance almost immediately. The girl was not slow on the upkeep and took hold of her weapon before using another Martial Art, [Impenetrable Fortress] The attack seemed to still hit and the wave of power it generated was impressive. However, the girl was unharmed and slid back a few meters, ready to receive another. The male immediately went on the offensive, pursuing her with his powerful punch and palm strike combination.

To the untrained eye, this was a one-sided beat down. The girl was on the defensive and she had no breathing room to move about, while the Elf King was on top of her every time she evaded or made to gain distance. He would move in close and strike fast, getting off a few combinations in the time it took her to block and create some distance. It seemed hopeless and a matter of time before a critical hit was had. She was bleeding somewhat from the strikes that did hit her, but every time the Elf King made for a heavy blow of anything which could deal massive damage she somehow always used [Impenetrable Fortress] to absorb it and create space. She would seem extremely luck to the casual observer.

To Aura, however, it was a very smart tactic, and one she often used when taming a particularly powerful or aggressive beast. It involved allowing the opposition to strike unendingly, letting their own momentum and rage work against them. Eventually, the beast would begin to tire, and its movements would dull. In those small minute moments a counter-attack could be had and damage slowly dealt. The combination of the tiring and small bits of continuous damage would cause the beast to submit, and then Aura could dominate it completely without much worry.

This method, however, required a lot of stamina, as well as requiring the opposition to not have a chance to escape or flee the battle should they tire too much. For that reason, Aura had moved herself towards the entrance, cutting off any means of escape. Her master had instructed her to ensure the Elf girl killed the Elf King and she would not fail in that charge.

The battle raged on as she expected. The Elf King was slowly wearing down, his attacks becoming dull and the girl was capitalizing on those moments. Eventually one of her strikes drew blood, and she immediately used a combination of Martial Arts to press her advantage.

[Limit Breaker] [Flow Acceleration] [Full Throttle] [Fatal Edge]

She did well in the slight moment she had, quickly bringing the Elf King into fighting defensively, forced to back away from her onslaught of attacks. While some of her attacks were bouncing off his body harmlessly, she saw that he was now bleeding more and more. Cuts and wounds were appearing all over his body and the interesting thing that occurred last time was now happening again. The Scythe the girl was wielding began to glow a subtle red, not overwhelming yet as last time but it seemed to enjoy the blood it was spilling.

The Elf King eventually lost more of his golden hue and as he did, more and more of his blood stained the battlefield. A few strikes turned into a multitude as the girl used one more attack pattern, thrusting forward to throw him off balance. Using [Flow Acceleration] and [ Heavy Blow] to deliver a massive, heavy strike to his arm, she severed it from the forearm onwards and as the limb fell to the ground with a thud, he howled in pain at the wound. Blood began pouring out as he reeled backwards trying to create distance. However, it was too late.

The atmosphere was dancing now, and her weapon had a completely dark red appearance as the air around it seemed to shimmer and steam. The Elf King got to his feet and quickly activated another set of arts. There was clearly an issue with them this time, the golden hue being significantly weaker this time and his face reflecting the terror of what was to come.

He seemed to want to plead for some manner of peace, his good hand waving in front of him. However, the girl was merciless. She twirled her scythe while drawing upon the ability locked inside, she rushed forward and called out [Dominion of the Sky]. The red hue in the air intensified as she brought the weapon down and a column of red light followed the arch, striking the Elf King in his abdomen. The blow launched him back and his body smacked against the wall once more. Aura was sure something like that would be fatal but when the smoke cleared, he was still alive, but was severely wounded, with each gaping wound looking seriously life-threatening.

'_That's gotta hurt' _She thought to herself.

Aura saw that half of his lower abdomen was gone. A massive semi-circle bled profusely as he struggled to maintain his balance, his other arm now was severely hurt as well. His body turned back to its normal tone and immediately began getting pale.

The girl, however, was not done. She had sustained some wounds and was bleeding somewhat. Breathing hard as she approached, she was slow and methodical, taking in the sight before her. Aura was sure, from the grin she had from ear to ear, that she was enjoying every second of this.

She brought her scythe low. It scraped slightly against the ground causing sparks to fly around it, giving it the image of death on the march. When she was close enough to the now defenceless Elf King she swung upwards with minimal force.

Aura looked on in disgust as the weapon sank itself deep into the groin of the Elf King, his already mangled body now screaming out in absolute pain and agony as the cold steel tore apart whatever used to occupy the space. The girl laughed hysterically as she twisted and yanked the weapon free, blood pouring out of what Albedo had told her was the most sacred part of a man. Aura understood that whatever lay in that region was extremely sensitive, having hit Mare there accidentally once or twice she knew it caused great pain, seeing this clearly delicate area stabbed so forcefully drew even her eyes away, and she boarded on feeling pity for the poor King.

The Elf King was now crying, crouched on the ground holding his groin with the one arm still attached. His howls of pain reverberated throughout the entire castle. Aura was sure everyone on the planet might be able to hear him by now.

The girl went forward again and grabbed his hair, pulling his face upwards. Tears were streaming down his face, mixing with the blood and other bodily fluids all over his body. She held him with some tenderness as she spat out with anger,

"That was for my mother, you filthy bastard, and this… this is for me!"

She held his head still, as her free hand twisted the end of her scythe behind his neck, she stared dead into his eyes as she brought the weapon's edge towards her, cleanly cutting through his throat, severing his head. An expression of disbelief and agonizing pain evident on his face, his eyes, still streaming tears, closed as the last light of this world faded.

Aura looked on as the girl held fast to the head, her eyes not moving away from it. She sunk low on her knees, her weapon dropping next to her, and she began to weep. Her emotions bare for the world to see. She was in pain, and there was a sadistic pleasure inherent in her voice as well.

The crying continued as she took breaks in between and would laugh hysterically, again and again, only to break down in tears once more. Whatever was the connection between them, it clearly hurt her, and this had been a goal for her. The end of something she had sought out for a very long time. And as she continued to cry and laugh, Aura approached the onlooking dragon.

"Maybe we should give her some time?"

The old dragon looked at her with thoughtful eyes,

"Perhaps we should come I will bring the weapons your master had requested."

They turned once more from the crying girl and began walking away from the hall.


	30. Chapter 30

**AN: Hey everyone, it's been a bit eh. I am sorry for that and for anyone who is on the discord you sort of understand most of what's been going on. Long story short work and life demanded a great deal and unfortunately, that means I won't be able to get out chapters as quickly as I used to. At this rate, it will most likely be a week per if that, so I apologise but such is the case currently. Thank you all for being patient and no need to worry I am still alive and well, just working a lot. I hope you enjoy the chapter, and I'd like to thank RAL and Pervy for their great work and everyone who helped with proofreading and correcting this time around. **

**Chapter 30**

Slyvin was breathing hard, his body was raged from exertion. His brain, screaming at him to calm down, gripped at sanity long enough for his spear to finally put down the black mass of death and decay. He used the short time given to steal a deep breath.

He looked around and surveyed what was going on. This was beyond their worst case scenarios.

The other members formed a tight circle, covering each other as best as they could against the horde of monsters. He knew they would soon be faced with something worse, so he needed to be quick about returning to their formation before the next wave.

By some means, they had all been teleported here, and while he had not been so surprised, he could tell some of his teammates were shaken by the event... Long distance teleportation was difficult to accomplish, and it required many great spell casters performing a ritual to teleport a small group like the Black some distance away. Even for the Theocracy, the task was difficult, and some of those involved with the spellcasting died to the magical strain put on them.

Immediately after arriving in this so-called Tomb of Nazarick, he called for his team to tighten up their formation. He had hoped they might be able to resolve whatever this situation was quickly and attempt a retreat. At the very least some form of distraction while they formulated a means of escape, however, he knew better now.

Number Three and Four had tried to use their magics to teleport the team away, at the very least some distance from the arena, where they would have some breathing room to formulate a greater escape plan. Their attempt had been futile, and it even seemed like the environment itself seemed to counterattack their attempts to teleport. Number Three suffered a magical relapse, and the following explosion nearly blew his head off. While he was able to dodge the majority of the damage he had required a few healing potions from that alone. It seemed this place was dimensionally locked, no teleportation magic would work, something that he asked the maids and they confirmed.

"It is useless to try and teleport, within Nazarick, only Lord Ainz has the power to grant such a thing."

He remembered her tone well, it was conceited and full of itself. She clearly believed she was much superior to them all, and the majority of her group looked down either hungrily, scornfully or with complete disregard at his group. He promised himself that if they survived this, he would lob off any one of their heads at the earliest convenience.

Slyvin was not usually the violent sort. He thought emotional decisions would tend to end in tragedy and liked to keep his head cool to strategize and think. However this situation was a farce, they were being toyed with, and so when he quickly learned they would not be able to use any form of magic to escape, he became slightly frustrated and it had only grown since then.

The only option left to them at that point was to fight, and the maids saw to it that they did. The leader of their group, the tall maid with gauntlets, had clapped her hands and a shambling group of skeletons had appeared. At first, Slyvin was a touch confused as the group was sizeable, being made up of some five hundred creatures. However, they were all low-level undead and were of no threat to anyone in his team. The sight of such opponents was almost an insult to him and as they approached and made an attempt at harming the Black, they had been put down, fast.

Incidentally, once they had finished with the last of the first wave, the maids had applauded their quick execution of the fodder. This behaviour annoyed Slyvin even more as he divined that their duty was most likely to oversee the fighting and perhaps provide a critique of the performance. To what end he did not know.

The next wave of enemies were much the same. Their numbers were impressive again but still weak. This time there had been slightly enhanced skeletons with magical abilities, some could cast simple first tier spells. However, they too were quickly put down. The Black Scripture was too organized, too strong, and too well experienced to be thrown off by such paltry monsters.

Following this was a wave of slightly more powerful undead, having a horde of four hundred undead made up of armoured skeletons outfitted with magical armour and weapons. These had proved more challenging, requiring everyone to begin forming up and taking to their assigned roles. However, they were not hard pressed and had controlled the flow of battle the entire time. Unfortunately, some minor injuries were sustained by the front liners, and this caused some worry to seep into Slyvin, should this continue they may be in real danger.

Anyone could tell this would be a battle of attrition. It was obvious they would face opponents for a while, and he knew they needed to conserve as much strength as possible for when this took a turn for the extremely dangerous. He knew of the power of the Sorcerer King's servants, and while he believed the majority had left with him to the Dragon Kingdom, there was no telling what other monsters laid within his realm.

The magical undead had lasted for a total of three waves, with a wave of an additional four hundred following the defeated five, and roughly three hundred being sent after the four hundred was defeated. Each wave was progressively more skilled and more powerful than the last. One of the waves had been extremely offensive, with mainly front liners and using heavy attack oriented brawlers in their lineup, while the wave after was composed of sturdy defensive front liners and a heavy archery back line.

Between the attacks, Slyvin thought of how it seemed the maids were studying what sort of tactics the Black would implement and how they would change and adapt to the situations. Being used for this sort of remedial experiment only added to the growing hate within Slyvin, and he made sure to vent his anger out with each thrust and stab of his spear.

The last wave had been a mix of what could be counted as elites, they were outfitted in golden magical armour, brandishing highly enhanced weapons and were designed to be long and short-range fighters. The mix of fighting styles was impressive, and Slyvin had ordered the majority of his team save for the magic casters to engage fully. The strength of the wave was formidable, and the undead were disciplined enough to form ranks and attack in concentrated formations. They were an army of undead, but the combination of Slyvin, the heavy front liners, and numbers Five, Six, and Two were more than enough to deal with the force.

Oddly enough, following the last wave, the maid with the buns stood and announced they would be given a thirty-minute break, and gave them time to heal any wounds before the start of the next phase.

Slyvin's heart sank at these words. He already understood that escape was almost impossible, but this turn of events made it clear that they intended to keep the team alive for a time. While this might have been seen as a good thing, once he considered the situation, it was clear they were simply using them for their own purposes, and clearly had the power to easily kill off the entire Scripture if they willed it.

Regardless of this, they took the appointed time and tried to recover as much as possible. As a God-kin, Slyvin had incredible amounts of stamina, and could easily outclass even Adamantine ranked adventures. While he did not have the monstrous stamina of Zesshi, who seemed to be able to go on seemingly forever, he easily could outlast all the rest of the members of the Black.

Thus while he ordered his team to save their strength, he made some efforts to find some means of contacting the outside world. He had various means he could use to try and contact either the Theocracy or Thousand Mile Astrologer, should she be able to pick up on their signal. If it reached, then maybe a rescue could be possible. The idea seemed almost comedic to him that as the most powerful Scripture they would need rescuing, but he did not have the time or patience for pride.

He was not surprised to see the first few methods fail. Nothing magical seemed to work, and he became tempted to try and utilize the spell crystal he possessed for extreme emergencies. As tempting as it was, the idea was placed on hold for now. The crystal was a single use, single person item, and he would not abandon his team to this doomed fate, not if it can be helped.

Those thirty minutes came and went too quickly. As soon as they did, a new wave came upon them, this time being made up of a mix of undead skeletal warriors and some fifty elder lich mages. The combination was again formidable, and they had resorted to using more and more of their fighting prowess. Number Seven had been forced into the fray and utilized her monster summon. The behemoth was allowed to rage against the Sorcerer King's forces while the rest attacked on either side. The Black was eventually victorious, yet no celebrations could be had as what faced them after was a total of one hundred Elder Lich Mages in the next wave.

This situation was bad, and in response, he authorised Number Four to use her power for the first time during this exchange. Slyvin had hoped to keep her in reserve because her powers worked well against the undead. In this sort of situation, she was their trump card and following the pattern set by the previous waves of enemies, he knew stronger foes would soon be coming.

However, he had no choice now. In a battle against the long-range magic users, they would have trouble bridging the gap without some significant injury. Even if his team were stronger, they would need to get close in order to effectively deal with the undead, and after a while, the barrage of [fireball] and [lightning] spells would take their toll.

As soon as she was given the green light, she immediately set to casting her Divine Magic, dealing a heavy blow to the Liches, throwing some of her own frustration and anger out on them. Slyvin thought the fifth tier holy spell she chose to use may have been too dramatic, but it seemed to bring a rise out of their captive audience, with the red-haired maid praising the effectiveness of the spell and the others seemingly approving of the decision to utilize her now.

Their presence was beginning to seriously annoy Slyvin. They were just musing about, watching this as if enjoying the sight of ants dancing in the dirt. Yet before he could build too much of his anger, the next wave descended upon them, and this time he was visibly worried.

What appeared before them were the same monsters which stood guard over the city of E-Rantel, the massive masses of black death and hatred. There seemed to be one hundred of these hulking undead, forming themselves into five neat columns of twenty as they moved in extremely uncharacteristic discipline out of the thin blackness of the portal.

When Slyvin took them all in, he was beginning to get more and more nervous about this particular wave. These seemed stronger, compared to the ones he had seen within the city. He could estimate these to at least be slightly stronger, and there was an intellect within them that was evident to him now. They seemed almost like trained soldiers rather than than the harsh brutes he hoped them to be.

Each one brandished a tall tower shield and a black chipped wavy sword. The five at the very front were decorated with a blue ribbon on their massive right hands, just above the wrist, signifying some form of seniority or command, and they were the ones who worried him the most.

'_This is bad'_

With a practised hand he signalled for the Black to change tactics and switch into a neutral formation, they needed options both defensively and offensively, and in return the five knights in the front stepped to each side, the rest of the groups behind them staggering their formation as well as they integrated forwards and backwards, creating ten columns of ten.

Slyvin was impressed at the speed at which they changed formation, and from this the outer left and right facing wings turned to their respective sides and brought their shields together, tightening the formation into a massive wall of black on either side. Slyvin looked on in horror as the group took to creating a seemingly enclosed black square, with only their wavy swords being given room to slide between the shields.

He took no time to think, quickly ordering the Black to take a defensive position, he had no knowledge of what that formation was but he understood enough to know it was a death trap if they attempted to rush recklessly into it with an attack. The Black quickly found form and he called upon Number Four once more, she understood her powers would be less effective on the more numerous and powerful undead, but she could at least press them and take some out or force them to abandon whatever formation they were in now and be more offensive.

He watched on with spear at the ready as Number Four began to chant her spells and wave after wave of holy magic bombarded the collection of Death Knights. The formation began to advance towards them, clearly taking damage but no visible monsters had yet to fall, once they were close enough they began to open their ranks quickly, allowing for a single member to advance forward, jab out with their sword and return to the safety of the formation.

'_Damn it' _Slyvin thought knowingly.

"Three, Five, and Six, it's time to wreak havoc,"

Slyivn had noticed how quickly Divine Chant was tiring, and he understood she could not deal with such a force of Death Knights alone, and thus he called for greater attack power, however, he had a multitude of fears, all of which he knew might come to pass.

"What if they have stronger undead?"

Number two asked him with a worried gaze. This was chief among his worries.

"Then we'll have to get creative."

He said, answering the youthful old man as he turned to the rest of his team.

"I'm about to activate my skill after I charge I'll fall back. Immediately unleash hell!"

Number Two acknowledged and retreated into the rear, the rest of the team turned towards their leader and made a formation behind him, the frontliners braced for his charge.

Unlike Zesshi, who's battle mania induced her to have a devastating single target ultimate in her scythe's ability [Dominion of the Sky], Slyvin's spear had a more straightforward power. He could unleash a powerful piercing attack in a single line, the attack ignored any form of defence and would cleave through almost anything. While he would be in the midst of the horde, he was confident he could retreat fast enough while the Black provided suppressive fire.

He breathed in deeply, holding his weapon out front and proceeded to drive forward. The strike was a much more advanced form of [Shukuchi] which allowed him to move even faster towards a destination just beyond the enemy. This carved a line of death wherever his indestructible spear was pointed, however, each use was less effective. Nonetheless, he activated his skill and roared as he launched himself towards the formation of death.

He quickly made contact and hit something hard, it stung his hands as the weapon vibrated from striking the towering shields, and for a moment he feared he had been stopped, but as he pushed through the front of the wall of black, he smiled slightly. He immediately jumped backwards and yelled to his team.

"NOW!"

A massive fireball roared in the hole he made, and the Death Knights scrambled in the ensuing chaos, the formation started to fracture, the rest of the black sensed the opportunity and quickly lept to charge.

He knew he could not afford to allow them time to regroup, thus he continued to barrage the group with a mixture of concentrated and sporadic attacks. The black masses of hate were incredibly resilient, seemingly clinging on to unlife for one final moment before they would fall, this further effort resulted in Slyvin using a lot more speed and power than he initially hoped and he found he was tiring quickly.

The strategy worked wonderfully, but not without cost. He was getting more and more exhausted with each kill, Number Three was now using lower third tier magic to save his mana reserves which resulted in causing much less damage and number Four was all but spent for now, the rest of his team was formed in a tight circle as they fended off the Death Knights.

The fighting continued for what seemed like forever before finally the final knight was slain, his spear driving itself through the head of the beast as it roared out of existence. Slyvin fell to one knee breathing heavily, he turned to account for his team.

Most were injured, ranging from minor to sizeable, however Number Ten was seemingly on his last leg, Divine Chant using what strength she had left to try and heal his wounds while the rest gave him healing potions.

Slyvin worked his way to his group, looking over Ten and then everyone else. They were all beyond exhausted, and whatever came next, he worried that it would be the end of them.

"You've all done wonderful - su" a cheery voice called out.

This time it was the red-haired female who spoke, her expression jovial and content as if this was of the highest amusement to her. Slyvin was about to growl back a threat when another more obnoxious voice descended into the arena.

"_Wunderbar_ indeed _mein fräulein_!"

From behind the women a figure appeared, it's steps were purposeful, powerful and distinct, as he stepped forward Slyvin noted his dress. He seemed like a high military commander of some sort, his yellow overcoat draped itself dramatically over his shoulders, there was no discernable wind in the massive arena, however, it's outer garments swayed slightly as it moved by some unseen magic. The inner parts of his uniform had medals and ribbons of some sort chains connecting various honorific medallions to his coat. Slyvin swallowed hard, no doubt this was a very high ranking member of the Sorcerer King's retinue, a commander of his forces perhaps.

As he appeared in his entirety Slyvin paused to note how strange and blank his face was, its features were completely nonexistent. Where a face should be was nothing more than three orifices, each around the same diameter and same shape, there was nothing about him, or it, nothing at all.

"And just who is this freak?"

Number Two blared out coldly, Slyvin turned to look at him and peered as his teammate. He shrugged excusing the hostility, and in any manner, it seemed appropriate, they were being forced to fight to the death.

"Ahh, _Kleines Huren Kind,_ how good of you to ask."

He threw one of his arms high into the air, his four fingers seemingly grasping something. He then slowly and dramatically brought it back down, and crossed his waist, bowing low to the ground as he spoke, he seemed silly, almost stupid, and Slyvin found himself perplexed at the oddity of the movements the creature was performing.

"I..!" His voice boomed, then paused for some effect, before continuing.

"Am Pandora's Actor, Keeper of the great treasures of Nazarick, Son of the most exalted God, child of the last of the Supreme Beings, MO... AINZ OOAL GOWN!"

As he spoke he twirled and flared, his arms moving wildly to enhance the desired effect of shock, but truthfully he seemed like an idiot. The maids behind him were unmoved, not caring to look upon the display, but they held face. Slyvin was close to rebuking the madman when he processed his last words.

'_Son of Ainz Ooal Gown?!'_

His eyes went wild as the words sank in, he shot his head back to the silly creature and held his features for a moment longer.

"How can the Sorcerer King have a son? He's undead," Slyvin asked suspiciously,

"How could an ant comprehend the actions of a God, _Mein Vater_ is beyond your simple understanding _junge_, but that is not important, I have a proposal for you intruders."

Slyvin eyed the creature cautiously as it came forward and continued to speak.

"You have all fought well, those last few waves were designed to finally kill you, but your victory has aided much and so I have been allowed to extend an offer to you. You will have one last battle, and you may even have your pick of opponents."

The entire Scripture picked their heads as he spoke, a small bit of hope entering their eyes,

"What are our choices?"

The so-called actor reared up and bore itself proudly as it spoke,

"You may either fight me or another champion of Nazarick."

Slyvin thought about the options for some time, taking into account the information they held of either force, it seemed like whichever route they chose, nothing was certain.

"What do we receive if we win?"

"Your lives, my father has seen fit to let you live should you win."

These words sparked hope in everyone and the group looked at Slyvin as he made his decision.

"We will fight you."

He pointed his spear at the creature and chose the more present of two evils.

The creature seemed to smile, its body contorting as it shot its way into the air, the jump was inhuman, some 30 metres before he began to drive towards the ground. Before long his form landed, a great amount of dust covering the area, before two massive black swords cut their way at the dust, the powerful wind pressure propelling the particles far away. What lay before them was a sight they could not hope but looked upon in sheer terror.

Slyvin's eyes almost popped as everything fell into place.

"...It's you?"

"_Ja Kleines Huren Kind_, is it?" replied the creature.

It's form flickered for a second, losing the mighty statue and taking on a more sinister appearance. It twisted and slithered as tentacles and other grotesque limbs extended from its body. It's appearance changed from one monstrous form to another before finally wrapping itself back together and resuming the appearance of Momon once more. He extended a long black sword towards them in a mocking manner.

Slyvin tensed as the sight unnerved him, his mind racing to find some manner of firm ground.

'_Momon is human! He can't possibly be this monstrosity!'_

The thing brought himself crouched low, and Slyvin, not believing this vile creature blurted out the only logical conclusion to this realization.

"What have you done with Momon?!"

The creature seemed to grin underneath its plated helmet, a low chuckle being reaching his ear.

"Should you win, I will petition my father to tell you the truth, but for now…"

Its image flashed as he moved. Slyvin blinked quickly as he reflexively took a defensive position, moments before a massive blade came down upon his spear and he engaged in combat with the creature. The blow was heavy, no, beyond heavy and he found the weight of it crushing him into the ground before it disappeared and the next sword was raised.

The massive black blade drawing an arch towards him, his feet reacted as he retreated back towards the formation, narrowly escaping the devastating blow.

A small crater formed where the strike had landed, and the shockwave rippled through the air, creating intense winds that nearly made Slyvin lose his balance. He struggled to stay on his feet, and feeling of dread settled upon him as he witnessed the environment take the force of the strike. Its power was evident and he shuddered to think about meeting another blow.

He arrived before his team, the others drawing close, their bodies betrayed the fear they had for this abomination. Slyvin looked down at his own hands, they were trembling from the previous exchange as he held his spear.

'_If this is just one attack, what else can he do?'_

As fast as before, the creature vanished into thin air, quickly re-appearing before the frontliners. They immediately took to flee but their reaction time was nowhere near fast enough, Slyvin rushed to try and intervene as he watched on in slow motion as Number Ten tried to dodge the incoming downward slash with his massive twin axes.

Slyvin watched as an obsidian blade met the legendary relics from the Six Great Gods, and before his eyes, it began to cleave through them like paper. The sight was horrifying and before he could reach his friend, the swords had found ground, cutting clean through Number Ten and the pride of the Theocracy.

The creature halted its advance, holding stock still as the body separated. Muscle, bone, and sinew parted noisily as the halves fell to either side of the great black sword. Hoisting the other blade upon its shoulder, the fake Momon turned its gaze over him, red points of light shone underneath its thin visor, sending a cold chill over him as it spoke.

"_Wer ist als nächster dran?_"

Fear overtook Slyvin as he could only watch in horror while the "Momon" continued its rampage through the Black. When its next target was chosen, its body flickered out of sight as the silent shock finally broke and chaos erupted amongst the remaining members.

Slyvin was still frozen, his mind not wanting to process the reality of the situation, his reluctance to accept reality holding him back from acting despite all his training. Nothing prepares a soldier for a massacre, no amount of training readies a man to watch all his friends die. Before he could think any more, the twin heads of Number Twelve rolled on the floor and the ensuing silence died as a piercing scream rang throughout the Arena.

Panic set in deeper as his team members began hectically trying to escape, attempting to find some manner of refuge from this looming reaper come to take their lives. Some ran, frantically searching for a means to leave, heading towards the nearest exits or wall, while others took the stance to fight. Cries of suffering filled Slyvin's ears, as he watched as his companions being cut down like forest wood. Blood flew quickly as Number Seven and her beloved summon found their ends.

The contest had been extremely brief when 'Momon' brought his great blades down upon Number Six, the latter attempting some form of resistance with his mighty spear, a treasure once wielded by the God of Fire himself. However the divine origins of the item could not save him when the black blades met the lance, it buckled and gave way under the pressure of the strike and the swords continued to their target, cleaving Six's head clean off. The blood had not even had time to find ground before the massive armoured body again disappeared towards a new victim. Tears streamed down Slyvin's still frozen face as he prayed to all the Six Great Gods for any form of salvation or mercy, something!

In his line of sight, he saw Number Three cast [Fireball] as the monster grew towards him, the magic disappeared as it came close to its body, from the brutal explosion streaked a black star. What met one of the greatest magic casters in the entire history of the Theocracy was a cold quick death as his body was launched backwards. The blade impaled him upon one of the walls, his lifeless body slowly splitting apart as gravity pulled him down upon the sharp edge. Slyvin finally broke as desperation flooded his being, his body finally moved as he attempted to fight back. He needed to save someone, anyone.

Slyvin forced his body to move as the creature sought its next victim, Divine Chant, sobbing, was crawling along the ground. Her magic spent, defenceless she was reeling backwards as the creature drew near. Slyvin dived as the blade slowly began moving towards her, he rushed to interject as his spear interrupted the strike, his interruption was successful and it brought the attention of "Momon" fully on him.

"_Was haben wir hier_? Are you trying to die?"

Slyvin could only ignore "Momon's" taunts as he turned to face the broken girl, and yelled

"RUN AND CHECK ON THE OTHERS, I'LL KEEP HIM BUSY!"

Divine Chant, clearly shaken, nodded as she began looking towards the others, tears streaming down her face as she ran towards the bloody bodies. Slyvin faced "Momon" again, with a look of determination on his face.

"I'm your opponent now, monster. Leave the Black alone."

"Momon" cocked his head to one side, before driving his swords down into the ground.

"Yuri Alpha!"

The maid immediately appeared.

"Our Lord has no need for them, you and your sisters may kill the rest however you wish, I will entertain our young guest myself."

Slyvin's eyes turned bloodshot as he heard the words, the execution of his friends was received with a warm neutral smile as the maid nodded and bowed slightly. Slyvin tried to rush with his spear as she retreated quickly and returned to the rest of her group.

Realizing there was no salvation here, Slyvin took one last look at his team, the sight was going quickly from bad to worse, the maids had begun their move, the rest of the Black were nothing more than cows awaiting their slaughter.

Slyvin reached into his robe one last time and withdrew a small black crystal.

"Afrinda!"

Number Four turned towards him as his voice reached her, he threw the item at her with capable strength, in the corner of his eye he saw a black-gloved hand move to stop a maid from intercepting the item.

"Use it, and tell them we died fighting!"

She caught the stone, gripped the item tightly and broke the seal. The black stone shining brightly before dying out, and in the aftermath, she was still there, nothing had happened. Slyvin understood now all hope was truly lost, there was never a chance of escape in the first place. As he slumped down on the ground, heavy steps made their way towards him.

"A good effort, alas, _Schade... _all teleportation is forbidden within the majesty of _mein vater's_ home."

Desperate anger began to swell within Slyvin as he slowly stood up, he gripped his spear tightly and started to chant a multitude of spells.

[Ability Boost] [Greater Reinforce Hide] [Greater Ability Boost] [Body Strengthening] [Dull Pain] [Enhanced Magic Resistance] [Impenetrable Fortress] [Instant Counter] [Greater Evasion] [Physical Boost] [Limit Breaker] [Greater Physical Boost] [Last Stand] [Full Throttle]

He knew he was going to die, this was it, there was nothing which could save them now, no way to survive this situation. Thus, he pushed his body to the absolute limit, drew upon every gift ever given to him, every power sleeping within his blood and prayed to his ancestors.

Slyvin's body began to glow as all of his magic began pouring into him. He felt his strength, speed, reaction speed, everything increase. He understood very well he was on a timer, when these spells wore off he would most likely be unable to move, much less fight.

Slyvin immediately rushed towards "Momon" to gain first blood. The strike was incredibly fast, not many creatures alive could perceive much less react to this speed, the hit connected as Slyvin felt his spear tip push hard against "Momon's" armour. The behemoth seemingly being pushed back by the force, a small manner of confidence returned to the Godling as he continued his assault.

He immediately chained with [Void Cutter] rushing to add together as much lethal force and not to give this monster a single breath of space. His frustration and anger poured out of him as strike after strike was launched, [Fatal Edge] gave way to [Heavy Blow] and [High Vertical Strike] which was followed by [Front Cut] into the mass. Again and again after each hit, the dark abomination would take a further step back, sensing he was reaching his limit, Slyvin pulled back a bit before finally utilizing his trump card. Hoping to finally end the bout, his body rushed forward as he turned himself into a straight spear tipped line of death.

A rush of energy filled him as he accelerated forward, an image of him tearing through the body of this imposter burned itself into his mind, the blissful thought of defeating this creature, rescuing the rest of his team and then finally finding some way to leave this infernal hell and just going home kept him pushing forward.

His spear met its target, a hard force slammed into him but he held on firmly and finally came to rest, a small smile came over his mouth.

'_It's over'_, He thought, '_this nightmare is finished.'_

He slowly looked up, his eyes darting towards the end of his spear as horror slowly overtook him.

There, at the end of his spear, holding the tip were two black-clad fingers.

"Wonderful performance my dear sir, _Wunderschön. _What do you think, lovely maids?"

Slyvin's eyes widened as he realized his mind sought to rationalize the situation, his body began to weaken. The magic wearing off and fatigue beginning to slowly set in, with it came unbelievable pain. He bit back his pain as he quickly looked around, nothing was moving, the fighting was done.

The maids were all standing around, watching him, terror followed his panic as he saw half of Number Two's youthful body sticking out of the blonde maid's body, the maid's face seemingly in bliss as legs unendingly waved about in perpetual agony.

Another was dragging Number Four's mangled body along as she got closer. Looking at his friend he saw her face was a mask of pain as she was now missing both her arms and one leg, the seemingly pretty maid was noisily feeding upon her dismembered extremity as the bunned maid, Yuri Alpha, reprimanded her for her 'poor table manners'.

"The boy was impressive, may even be a match for most of us individually,"

Slyvin felt his stomach lurch at the sight and quickly closed his eyes as he sought to not look at the scene any longer, his hands began to numb as he felt less and less of his weapon.

"Don't worry _mein junge,_ I won't eat you, I have no such tastes."

The words snapped Slyvin's eyes wide open as he looked forward, "Momon" yanked the weapon from his hands, pulling him along until a powerful gauntlet found his neck, and slowly hoisted him from the ground. Slyvin quickly found breathing had become difficult as he struggled to raise his hands to attempt resistance. The pain from his failed assault now caught up to him, his body feeling the full relapse of overstepping his limits.

His mind was screaming at him from pain and exhaustion, his lungs dying for each small breath of air, and his eyes watered as Slyvin experienced the worst pain he had ever felt in his life.

Slyvin was choking on his own blood as the hand gripped his throat tighter, crushing his jaw and sending blood and bone into his throat. The escape from this pain seemed a small reprieve as he slowly made him way towards death.

"Do not, my dear friend… This show is not over yet, _Gute Nacht!_"

* * *

Slyvin's eyes shot open as he looked towards his surroundings, he was frightened for a second before he realized he was alive, that may be a good thing and his body felt…

Something itched in his skin, it was uncomfortable at first, as if something was burrowing into him, but quickly that discomfort turned into a bit of fear, then full-blown panic as he realized there was no response from his muscles to ease the discomfort.

He couldn't move, he couldn't scratch the itch, and as he thought about it more and more, he realized he was itching in other places too. He desperately tried to thrash about, to move, to do something to help himself, something to scratch the itch, but he couldn't. He was trapped.

As time went on his mind began to break from the feeling, he seemed like a ghost in a shell, feeling every horrifying second of this without a single response from his body. Finally, after some time a voice reached him, a soft reassuring voice which seemed to want to comfort him to help him from this place.

"Ahhh, you've awoken, my friend."

He tried to dart his eyes to find it's origin, a bit of hope in his eyes, perhaps this voice could help him find some form of reprieve.

"I will answer what may be on your mind first; don't worry about moving, you won't ever be able to move again, my lord has cast the permanent spell [Paralysis] upon you, enhanced with his own special racial magic traits. I dare say Lord Ainz is truly a god amongst us all, such power, such majesty, such intellect, and such kindness."

Finally from the bleak dark, a pair of eyes revealed themselves, reflecting the barely visible light, and a horrifyingly large maggot wiggled it's way next to him, it bit into his cheek as he felt small living creatures being injected into his skin and some puncturing through into his mouth. Those had immediately started to bury themselves into his throat, the feeling was horrifying, he tried to scream, tried to move, to get away from here. He even tried to cry, but nothing came from it, his body stock still like a cadaver, the maggot rose up again and continued speaking.

"I am sure you must at least wish to know where you are."

It moved towards his leg and bit into him again, the feeling of more of the writhing creatures filled him, the maggots moving and crawling to find room within his body, the itch spreading everywhere the small creatures roamed about, seeking space and making territory of his body.

"You are still on the Sixth Floor of the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick. This is known as the Large Hole, I am Gashokukochuuou, and as for you, you will be home to my children until the end of time, so please do try your best."


	31. Q&A 2

Q & A

Q: WHERE THE HELL HAVE YO BEEN?..,

A: Well this is a slightly longer answer. But in a nutshell here is what happened. Back in late May, I got placed on training duty for a few new members in our unit, nothing too big but I got busy with real life for a bit. I was expecting to be back in action in a few weeks and to at least put out the last few chapters slowly, however, we have a situation come up. Around my third week of training, we get a notification that one of our members was injured and needed a replacement. Well, considering I was one of the only qualified pilots who hadn't deployed in a bit. I got tasked. So that's it, I've just been running around in the desert for the past few weeks doing nothing but eating sleeping and calling my wife. I do apologise for the sudden radio silence and when I got back, after the hugs and kisses and some much-needed alcohol I decided I should sit back down and get this all done.

Q: So where from here?

A: Well I hope to be able to finish the rest of the Summit in the coming weeks. I will be a little slow just because I don't want to make any unnecessary promises, but I'm excited to finish this up and maybe get something else started, we'll see. Thank you, everyone and glory to Lord Ainz Ooal Gown.


	32. Chapter 31

**AN: It's been just a (little?) bit and I'm out of practice, haha, but I wanted to get back and rolling with the story. Please leave reviews and help me make this an awesome finish, thank you all for your support.**

**Chapter 31**

Nerut stood silently blinking mindlessly as he tried to contemplate the scene that had just occurred before him.

It was a perfectly normal day until a few moments ago when a few men in fancy seeming armour started yelling something. He hadn't even had time to completely see them and take in any of their features before a flash of light quickly enveloped them and they disappeared without a trace.

The square was quiet for a time as the apparent shock which was to follow such a thing subsided and voices began muddling at the strange occurrence, but unlike many places in this world, in this city people quickly moved on.

Yet Nerut hadn't fully recomposed himself.

'_Where did those people go?'_

Nerut was not a long-time resident of E-Rantel, and so such sights still affected him to a greater degree than some of his neighbours. He found the relative peace and relaxed nature of the people here odd at first.

The experiences he had of life up until that point were far short of peaceful or relaxed, but through time he quickly found himself adjusting, finally seeing that there indeed was true safety here.

It was a quality he came to enjoy quite a bit after years of life at the mercy of whatever disaster might come his way.

When the Re-Estize Kingdom still ruled the lands around his village, he would have been lucky to see even a single trained guard once every few months when the tribute was due.

However, now he lived in a city cradled by what many consider a living god, his power forever present in the form of the large number of undead roaming and working around the ever-expanding city.

Often wayward settlements like those he was raised in were subject to all manner of attack, be they from beast, monster, men, or worse. He had heard about the actions of a crazed underground group of undead worshipers who had razed some villages, leaving nothing but death and destruction in their wake.

Far from the undead, Nerut was to fear for his own country, in the last years when the national lines between the Baharuth Empire and The Re-Estize Kingdom were in flux, he often didn't even know which country his small town belonged to.

Luckily, all that changed when the Sorcerer king made his grand debut.

"Love, we need to go, we don't want to be late for the meeting"

A voice snapped the man out of his trance.

His eyes blinked wildly as his mind recollected and he looked towards the disturbances origin.

A smile overcame him as his muscles relaxed

"Hehe, was it that bad?"

He spoke as he raised his hand to scratch the back of his head.

His query was a jest, something to lift the worry evident on the divine face of his wife.

He wanted her to know he was no longer daydreaming and was back with her.

She took the smile and puffed her cheeks, imitating a scowl as he began to laugh.

The melodious sound put his heart at ease and he looked onwards at the radiant creature before him, the light of his life, Sahera.

She much like him, was not a native of this city, being an elf.

She had been forcefully brought here during the days of the Kingdom, a slave to a bastard of a man who abused her for entertainment.

Her master had kept her publicly as help. When asked, the noble would always proudly say he was fairly "paying" her a living wage. In truth, he was charging her the same amount for staying within his house so as to evade the Kingdom's rules on slavery. The practice was widespread enough that even Nerut had heard of it, and knew it was slavery still, in all but name.

Unlike the many other elven slaves, Sahera was lucky to have not been captured by the Theocracy, and so her ears were spared their usual mark, as such she retained her full elven features, the sharp eyesight and keep senses of her people. The added beauty drew the eyes of the noble and he "hired" her from a band of slavers on the outskirts of the Kingdom.

For years, she toiled in his manor, working herself to the bone by day and being humiliated and forced to perform other activities when darkness descended and the wild nature of men came fully to bear.

The thought infuriated him, and he found himself clenching his fist as white fury built itself within him.

People like them pray on the weak with what power they believe they have, be it a plot of land, a family name or even a bit of gold, they enjoyed belittle others.

Yet when the Sorcerer King took the land the little wretch had been quick to flee south to the Slane Theocracy, leaving the mistreated woman to fend for herself, in a city which was now ruled by the dead.

Sahera had slept in the streets for weeks, preying in the rats and scrapes for sustenance before help finally arrived.

Nerut always enjoyed her retelling of her rescue. Every time she spoke of it, her clear eyes lit up like the night sky moving in transition with each event, and she would throw her arms for added effect, her genuine nature and adoration for the Sorcerer King was evident in every word.

She would recant of her misery and happiness of being free, of her pain in being rejected still by those in the city who remained and her struggle in trying to find a place to belong.

Every time she would pause, without fail she would begin to tear increasingly as she spoke of her decent towards death, of what she believed to be her final days in this world.

When she had been left, forgotten and forsaken, alone in a world that did not care for her, a hand had reached out in that bleak darkness to grab her tight and pull her from perdition, a pure white skeletal hand, stronger than adamantine and overflowing with righteous divine power, the hand of their God-King, Ainz Ooal Gown.

Shivers travelled along Nerut's spine at the mention of the Sorcerer King's name, and he blinked him back again to reality.

They had to walk some ways from the fountain where the crazy men had disappeared and were now in front of an ornate building called a realtor's auction.

With the reinvigoration of the city, the Sorcerer King had created a myriad of new "social programs" to help citizens pull themselves from poverty.

As befitting a God, his intellect and foresight were beyond imagination, and while Nerut had not had the fortune of formal education, he had now learned enough in his adult economic classes to figure out how difficult it was to manage a nation.

The Sorcerer King had decreed that all citizens would be given the opportunity to learn how to read and write, to help them advance themselves in life.

This dedication to creating an educated populous at first seem trivial to Nerut but as he learned more and more he realized how priceless an education truly was.

In his youth his parents had been taught some very basic reading skills, however, he had never been much for books, Sahera, on the other hand, craved knowledge, having been given the chance and means to learn she devoured any and all information fed to her.

She was so prolific in her studies and comprehension that she was hired directly by one of the attendants of the Sorcerer King to work as a manager for one of the first public libraries.

As Nerut had at least the ability to read somewhat his education was more tailored, he decided to learn about the field of economics which he believed would help him understand how to better advance in this world and he was not proven wrong.

The undead scholar that taught his night classes would shower them with wild and unbelievable ideas. Of how to create sustainable markets and how to best sell items for the best price.

A student, the son of a wealthy merchant once asked the undead where it gained such knowledge, It replied simply.

"I have access to but a mere modicum of the knowledge of my lord has on this subject"

Those words had only furthered the reverence Nerut held for the Sorcerer King. And inspired him to redouble his efforts in absorbing everything he was taught.

After some time he had formulated a plan with the ideas he learned and spoke with his beloved about the matter when agreed they carried forward with their plans.

With the national subsidies allotted to them, Nerut and Sahara decided to try and pursue land owning and form a business around the practice.

The process had been easy enough, the normal bureaucracy that Nerut had so often heard about was nonexistent in the domain of the God-King and the undead labours were quick to get all forms approved and stamped.

Soon they traded a portion the money they had saved for a small plot of land with two reasonably sized buildings on it, quickly enough they found new migrants who needed a place to stay and they began making money, at first it was enough to recuperate what they had placed into the purchase and soon they were able to buy more and more land within and throughout the Sorcerous Kingdom.

Their efforts bore them more than enough to live comfortably, within a few years the couple had seemingly joined some of the wealthier echelons in the city in the charitable actions encouraged by the Sorcerer King and decided to purchase a home for wayward souls looking to start a new.

Their efforts had led them to this, an individual looking to secure a large amount of living space outside of the city.

As Nerut opened the door, he scanned quickly to find a frogman quietly sitting along the far side of the building.

He smiled as he walked forwards.

"Hello, you must be Neteb, my name is Nerut Vril, and this is my wife Sahera"

The well-dressed frogman stood, and extended a hand in greeting, with something Nerut guessed to be a smile on his face.

"Hello Mr. Vril, thank you for meeting with me"

* * *

In deliberate, almost masterful movements Veale diligently worked her way around her master's large room, making sure to not leave even a speck of dust within the large abode.

She had been the personal maid to the emperor for some time now and had developed her own system for cleaning.

As she would frequently be left alone, she knew exactly which places would need the most attention, the open windows were a double-edged sword, they carried in the cool breeze of the morning air, and the dirt of the world beyond along with it, and naturally they were her greatest enemies.

The silent tempest that mocked her each day would begin with the morning breeze, in the beginning, she would work herself to death cleaning the tight corners of the space only to find that more dirt had accumulated upon the windows, making her work all but moot.

However, this trial and error meant growth in her abilities of awareness, she could now seemingly clean the entire place with her eyes closed simply out of instinct alone.

This mastery placed in her a very comfortable sense of pride, she knew her work was excellent as her master had refused to hire on undead workers and chose instead to leave the cleanliness of his personal residence to her, a trust she most definitely appreciated.

Coincidently more than simply trust, she also received much in financial favour from her liege. She could be considered the richest member of her profession, having in her possession a sum of wealth equal to that of some lower nobles.

Though she knew she could retire away and live a life many would be envious of, she enjoyed her station, she enjoyed seeing the world of those in power, listening to the events which transpired around the world, and most importantly, she enjoyed all instances when she could catch even a whisper of the Sorcerer King.

Throughout the Empire, there was not a single individual who would not have knowledge of the Sorcerer King, that God who descended upon their world.

Veale often would catch small talk of his actions and deeds days before anyone else would be privy to the information and would at times discuss it in hushed tones with her friends amongst rounds of drinks.

Those around her saw her as an exalted being, a farseer of sorts and she loved the admiration she received being seen as one who was closer to the Vassal Lord of their nation than the average citizenry.

As she thought of the day's work, she caught wind of hurried steps making their way to the room, she picked up her ears to listen.

'_Who would be in such a hurry to the emperor's chamber?'_

Her lord was not due back for a while, as the summit was underway and she was told he would be staying longer to relish his time within the Sorcerer King's company.

However, she had not the luxury of time and quickly made to intercept the door before whoever was coming arrived, if by chance it was her liege, she would not be caught unprepared.

As she made to grab the interior handle, the door impressively swung open, nearly taking her with it as it gave way to a panicking court squire.

She had seen the young man before, among the emperor's attendants who would often wash and clean the armour pieces of the former four imperial knights.

The young man looked around hurriedly for a few seconds before laying his eyes upon his destination.

He bolted forward towards the king's ornate under gear. And Veale quickly stepped forward to grab this buffoon.

"In the Name of his Majesty, STOP!"

The boy must have barely registered her words and only slowed a little, whether to catch his breath or in acknowledgement of her presence she did not know, but she quickly followed up.

"These are the emperor's personal chamber, what do you think you're doing here."

The boy slowly began undoing the fastens on the under gear, taking deep breaths as he carefully began packing the undoubtedly expensive outfit for transport

"His majesty….. called.. for his… armour."

His hand did not stop moving as he gathered everything.

"The Emporer did?"

She weakly spoke out.

Panic, worry, and confusion quickly swept over Veale's mind and she struggled to ask her next question, the boy turned around and looked at her contorted face finally catching his breath as he began to leave.

"We march to war"

She stood silent as the young man began carefully leaving, running only fast enough to ensure his expedience but taking care not to so much as wrinkle his precious cargo.

Veale's eyes followed him before he disappeared from sight, her mind racing at the implication of his words, the important question left upon her mind.

_'With who?'_

* * *

Crimson eyes grazed blankly over the field before them,

Shalltear stood stock still as she reflected internally, a slow-burning glee evident within her at this opportunity.

Since her awakening in this strange world, Shalltear had made mistakes, and while her fellow guardians have taken to their master's orders to forget and forgive her of her transgressions, she was ever crushed at the biggest of them.

When the memory of her folly surfaced she lamented that she could ever raise a hand against a supreme being, much less their leader and last remaining among them. That indiscretion against the master who chose to remain with them had put her in a bad light among many of the denizens of Nazarick.

She knew her status as a floor guardian and her master's divine mercy had saved her the extreme reprisal she deserved, yet many sought her punishment for her mistake, incidentally, she was chief among them.

Shalltear had never once cursed her existence, she was after all a blessed creation of the supreme beings of this and every world, a firstborn child of Nazarick.

Her dominion above all others was absolute when they decreed it to be so and she had lived with such knowledge in mind. When she surveyed this new world and saw these humans as nothing more than walking blood banks, her superiority over them was immediately cemented.

That they remained alive at all, was proof of her lord's mercy, that they did not know their place was proof of their stupidity in her eyes.

But her god had given them the order to wait.

Lord Ainz in his infinite wisdom had chosen to study in the shadows and wait for his moment.

Until Shalltear had royally fucked up.

Her mentality caused harm to the supreme one, her mistake put in jeopardy everything he was working to build and that shame rode with her for years.

While it was true she eventually made way to recover her reputation, being successful in her mission to protect and act as a lieutenant in her master's quest to "befriend" the dwarves, she knew inside she was nonetheless not fully redeemed.

She needed more.

She needed course to prove that her creation was not a mistake, that her use was vital to her master and above it all.

She needed to show them all, and most importantly herself, that she was worthy beyond a reasonable doubt.

And finally, after years of being lukewarm in the eyes of her peers, that opportunity was here.

Shalltear's task was very simple, very straightforward and very much to her liking...

In the great throne room of Nazarick, her master had called to her.

Shalltear's skin shone with a healthy red hue as she recalled her master's words.

In the presence of the other guardians, she stepped forward to receive his instruction.

"Shalltear, you will halt the advance Theocracy army when they enter our nation's borders"

Her heart skipped a beat at the implication but she quickly calmed herself to try and divine the greater meaning of her master's words.

At first, she recalled what her training with Aura and sought to put forward ways of how she could achieve the objective.

-Mass teleportation

-Binding them in an alternate dimension

-Locking the relative space and putting them all to sleep

However when her master's hand came up to stop her rambling, she believed herself to have failed in the endeavour, however, he uttered a simple sentence,

"You will slaughter them all"

Confusion had taken her at that time as she looked to her fellow guardians for guidance, the others, obviously completely understanding the now clear order, looked onwards not missing a beat.

When her master had seen her confusion he made efforts to make himself crystal clear.

Complete and total annihilation.

At this point in her recollection, her body had become hot, her usual pale complexion was replaced with a beyond healthy bloody red tone and parts of her began to moisten.

As the sexual high overtook her, a forward detachment of soldiers arrived some meters from her position, an unimpressive little thing atop a horse called out to her, its voice taking her away from her lucid daydream.

The Valkyrie's eyes snapped open and turned bright murder at the interruption.

Shalltear's mind went from ecstasy to rage and disgust in a matter of seconds as the pudgy form of the Slane Theocracy's command officer made its way towards her.

She remained silent when he called out once again.

She quickly looked behind the rat towards the greater whole of his army.

'_A bunch of rodents come to my Lord's domain"_

Internally Shalltear began to let loose her restraints, relaxing the grips she had bound herself with to ensure she would always be in the best mindset to serve her lord. As the fear of failure left her, her mind cleared, her confidence exploded and a light went off in her mind.

At that moment a thought struck her mind.

'… _did he do this... for me?'_

her mind spun into high gear unravelling the situation, counting the many servants who may have been called to perform this task in her stead, and she landed on the most obvious answer.

Reverence, Love, and Adoration welled within her as she realized that this entire situation was a gift from her master.

A moment of pure release she had not known she needed.

But of course Lord Ainz, in his infinite wisdom, and majesty could see all her desires, all her needs and here was his answer for her good service a sacrifice fit for a vampire.

She resolved herself even further to his service as she basked in the magnanimous nature of her master, her heart unable to bear his overwhelming compassion and power.

The bloody Valkyrie was now more than excited, her state a mixture of serval devotion, carnal desire, and a filthy lust for battle, flesh, and blood.

The officer now was looking her over, the sexual desire that was in his eyes before slowly leaving as he inspected her armour.

She ignored the peasants dawning realization and cast a simple message spell.

[Are you ready?]

After a brief moment, a human voice responded to her.

[Yes, lady Shalltear, they are all within and we have cast our magic]

A smile quickly blossomed upon her face,

She cast her next spell

[Widen Magic: Mass Hold Species]

Panic quickly contorted the facial features of the humans near her and she began to hear others struggle in futile resistance.

She suppressed a demented laugh as she surveyed her "present"

Her mouth salivated as she thought of what was to come, her body began to slowly morph and lose its shape.

Her ever-widening smile gave way for a row of razor-sharp teeth, a massive blood-soaked tongue protruding from her wide maw.

Her posture, straight and ladylike hunched over as her arms extended and talons made formed from neat fingers.

Her already small figure, contorted even more and compact into a ghastly, blood craven monstrosity.

Panic turned to pure terror as the line officers saw her transformation and she delighted in the fear that was evident in the air.

She released her spell when she was good and ready

The air was stock still as she silently looked over her prey.

In a voice which could make the dead shiver in fear, she spoke out to them.

"…. Run"

At her instruction, terror became absolute pandemonium as the commanding officer bolted in terror away from her, a trail of ammonia filling the air from where he soiled himself, and with his weak display of leadership, the rest fled in fear.

No longer needing to keep herself restrained, Shalltear let lose a horrid laugh.

The jovial expression of an apex predator finally let loose upon its prey.

She pounced forward towards the symphony of screams, her eyes giving away fully to her bloodlust.


	33. Chapter 32

**AN: This is the first time I have had the pleasure of getting the full editing treatment and damn it certainly was great, I'd like to that The Usual Gang of Drunken Perverted Idiots for their tireless work in helping me get this edited and fully ready for publishing. Please review and critique anything that might be out of order as the action ramps up, I want to make sure no plot holes are popping up or anything of the sort. But, Thank you for the support and we will see you on the next release**

**Chapter 32**

'Rockrik' waited patiently as the large invasion force snaked its way towards the domain of the supreme one.

She knew full well the intention of these so-called invaders, and it made her laugh with simple delight seeing all these pitiful creatures march to their deaths.

In a way she was leading these sheep, herding them for her master's grand plan. The thought brought her immeasurable joy and for a quick moment, she lost sense of herself and briefly allowed a small measure of her intent to leak out.

As a denizen of Nazarick, the fact her contributions were being of help to the supreme one was beyond elation, and she longingly looked forward to the display which would soon occur.

All the remaining preparations were made as the filth arrived, 'Rockrik' was in constant communication with her brethren to ensure that nothing would go wrong.

They had quietly gathered in specific portions of the surrounding lands in order to erect a massive dimensional lock, the spell would be powered by four of the personal undead creations of the supreme one.

Their masters had instructed them to cast specific anti-divinations spells once the lock was in place, so as to avert any gazing eyes, and to report back to the Theocracy that all was proceeding as planned.

Prior to her assignment as this lowly creature, 'Rockrik' had once overheard master Demiurge state that their master had already planned and accounted for the next ten thousand years.

Such a span left her mind in utter disarray and she struggled to even attempt to fathom but a portion of that time.

'_Truly, the supreme one is divine.' _

'Rockrik' had heard of how some humans now came to understand but a fraction of their master's majesty and came to view him as a god. While such information was commonplace among the denizens of Nazarick, she was nonetheless impressed by at least some of the trash in this world. That they should be wise enough to recognise their betters, and bow before the master of death itself.

As the rear echelon of the army made its way, 'Rockrik' locked eyes with a rugged looking man upon a horse, his manner of dress denoted someone of high rank, however, his uniform showed clear signs of use and battle, a clear sign of someone who toiled alongside those under his command.

This she could at least approve of, any commander unwilling to perform their own order should never give it out.

'Rockrik' gave a small gesture to the man, a common gesture of respect among the Theocracy, and the man to his effort returned it and continued forward.

Some time passed and the last of the rear guard moved unhurriedly past them, a smile creeping its way onto her illusionary human face as she watched the Theocracy forces march by.

She looked towards the positions of the other 'members' of the Windflower Scripture and nodded for everyone to move out.

'Rockrik' cast a message spell to the waiting undead summons and courteously informed them that they could cast their dimensional magic.

While in all actuality the shapeshifted 'Rockrik' was in command, she knew better than to dare believe herself better than the personal creations of the Master of Nazarick and as such she treated them with the extended respect they deserved.

As the overlords confirmed their preparation, a voice rang out within her mind.

[Are you ready]

Lady Shalltear's child-like voice reverberated within her head, she could tell the floor guardian was not pleased and ventured to guess one of the humans may have already caught her ire.

[Yes, Lady Shalltear, they are all within and we have cast our magic.]

The message spell ended with her reply, but 'Rockrik' could feel the satisfaction the floor guardian had in hearing those words.

She quickly went about coordinating her retinue, they would be quick to relay the 'successful' capture of E-Rantel to the Cardinals once enough time had passed.

'Rockrik' smiled as she slowly looked over the battlefield. A wave of red was already visible and the ants were beginning to run about trying to muster some form of defense. She laughed openly at the pitiful sight before turning her attention to the sky.

* * *

The journey back from Eryuentiu went much faster for Zesshi. Surprisingly, the Platinum Dragon Lord had assented to helping her return to the Slane Theocracy as he apparently was on his way north to join his brethren in preparation for the battle to come.

Riding a dragon was, to say the least, a new experience for her.

Dragons by nature were reclusive creatures, to see one would be impressive, to fight one would be considered the greatest of all challenges. However, the very prospect of riding one would be beyond imagination.

However, for Zesshi, it was far from enjoyable.

The rush of wind was nothing for her, and the massive frame of the Platinum Dragon Lord gave her plenty of room to be comfortable.

No, it was the sparse moments of lucidity that even allowed her to realize that they had taken flight.

Zesshi had spent the better part of the last few hours in her own head, silent in deep contemplation. In fact, she often found herself in the middle of a conversation with no one and nothing before she would slowly break down and cry.

To his credit, the Platinum Dragon Lord made no fuss about her state, and he allowed her the time she needed to come to grips with herself.

In the dark recesses of her mind, years unravelled themselves as she came to bear with herself.

Zesshi stood in a small room, surrounded by the ghosts of who she was, each with eyes she couldn't stand to look into.

A child seeking her place in the world.

A girl, unable to let go of her mother's death.

A daughter who sought the affection of a father she never knew.

A killer with a crazed lust for battle.

And in the middle of it all, she stood, a woman looking to find her way forward.

She stood in the midst of all their gazes, in the middle of her own judgmental mindset, her past questioning everything that she was.

"_We can let it go now, he's dead."_

"_No, this world deserves to burn, their world deserves to burn."_

"_If only mom were here."_

"_What if he just wanted us to be a family?"_

"Please just stop," she softly spoke.

The chattering persisted.

A cacophony of self-pity, rage, and sadness battered against her again and again.

She could feel their adoration, their disappointment, their rage.

Her own feelings.

Her own emotions, locked and repressed under the guise of hate for so long.

"_What if we were wrong?"_

She wondered if it had been worth it now.

Her last connection was severed, her so-called family was no more.

Where did she belong now?

The Theocracy was a sham, her mother long dead, and now her father was dead.

And with him, the adolescent rage and hate that fueled her.

She was tired, she was exhausted, she was beyond drained, and despair threatened to grip her close and never let go.

Whatever light existing within the soul room darkened, waning as the eyes of those judgmental spectres glowed with more fervour as the encroaching darkness enveloped them.

More spectral lights appeared, more gazes from those who had once condemned her, the lights continued to wink into existence, each with a fiery hatred she could not meet, each with a judgment she never wanted to feel.

They whispered words like daggers as they cornered her.

They spoke of her weakness.

Of her loneliness.

Of her failures.

Of her disappointments.

She saw cardinals, past and present in their grand clothes, whispering their hatred of her kind.

Their hatred of her.

Their eyes betraying their plot and laughter, her whole life nothing more than a game piece for them to play.

They towered over her as the darkness proceeded ever closer towards her.

Zesshi closed her eyes as the world faded to black, she felt the cold tenderly lick her skin as she lamented it all.

In the thralls of that embrace, she contemplated the point of resistance. Why should she care now? All of this was done, she had attained her vengeance, her life goal, her reason for being was complete.

Why should she not rest now, after hundreds of years living a lie?

Yes, this is where she belonged, this is the inevitable end to the path of hatred. She embraced the dark now, allowing those evil gazes to pierce through her.

"_Care if I walk with you?"_

Zesshi shot her eyes open to find herself in the middle of the corridor, a familiar figure wrapped in receding darkness leaned against a wall.

The dying light found itself slowly coming back to life as Raymond stepped forward to join her.

She made to mouth something only to realize she could not speak, she was simply a spectator in a memory.

Raymond's eyes met hers and she shuddered.

A warm glow emitted from those eyes, there was no judgement there, no hatred of her kind, no feelings of animosity or hidden plots to exploit her.

"What do you want to talk about?"

She heard herself say and as the light continued to fight back against the dark, more of her surroundings became visible.

A familiar street came into view, the bustling merchants of the Sorcerous Kingdom were making their way towards their futures.

"_Would you believe me if I said I just didn't want you being alone with that creep?"_

His words were like fire.

They reverberated throughout her being, burning away the cold that threatened to bind her.

She blinked to find herself in a forest.

A small fire illuminated the surrounding trees as she ate a burnt piece of meat.

"_I know I'm not the best cook but it's edible, right?"_

A younger Raymond sat opposite her, another former member of the Black, Imir, sat to her left.

These two had been the only ones who would associate with her when she escorted the previous Black Scripture members on their missions.

The others she knew harboured reservations or even outright disgust for her.

She sat there as Imir wacked Raymond for ruining what food they had, his hand coming up to defend against the incoming blow, laughter echoing in the night.

She blinked to find herself laying in the dirt, sweat dripping profusely from her body.

A figure clad in ornate red clothes came into view.

"_By the gods, I don't think it's possible for you to get any stronger you know."_

The former Cardinal of Fire held out his hand as he offered her a cold rag to wipe herself with.

His face held a friendly smile and she remembered he was the only one of the 12th generation of Cardinals who would speak to her, and not about her.

He had always offered her his personal residence to practice her swordcraft.

The others saw her as a dangerous asset, but he alone defended her time and time again.

As she reached out to take his hand, the scene changed again.

This time to a garden.

A small stream flowed nearby as the sound of the water struck against her ears. She quickly realized she was smaller here. The surrounding trees seemed to eclipse the world, hanging over the space like a dome. Her eyes took in the place in greater detail before something broke her observation.

"_Zesshi."_

The world exploded in light as her heart skipped a beat, she quickly spun to find its source, already knowing what she would find.

A woman clad in functional brown armour stood a small distance away from her, a sword strapped to her waist and her raven black hair braided to one side.

_She was beautiful._

Like the radiant summer sun when winter's cold reign ends, _she was beautiful_.

Like the harvests of autumn promising to stay away the hunger, _she was beautiful._

Like the winds of spring, gently calling the world to wake from its hibernation.

_She, was, beautiful_.

With a lustrous smile highlighting her face as she approached Zesshi, each step broke down what façade of strength Zesshi had mustered all these years.

Her mother greeted her with love in her eyes.

Finally, unable to contain herself, Zesshi ran towards her, her body melting away to her present self, her figure now a bit taller than her mother as she fell into her embrace, and she cried.

She cried for the years without this feeling.

She cried for the hatred that seemed to guide her for so long.

She cried for the hell she did not know she lived in.

"_My little Zesshi."_

Those words reduced her to a child once more, she looked up to find soothing dark eyes smiling back at her.

"_It's over now, don't let him control you any longer."_

The words bound themselves to her heart, tears long since held back let themselves loose and Zesshi stood there.

From the edges, Raymond and Imir walked out towards her.

The former Cardinal of Fire flanked her from the opposite direction.

In an instant, she was surrounded by the smiles of those who had cared for her in her life.

Their eyes reflected no judgment, their smiles allowed her peace.

Zesshi basked in the light once more, her eyes red with dried tears. Her mother watched it all, held out her hand and guided her to a small rock.

She sank slowly to sit beside her as she spoke.

"_Tell me everything."_

After a moment holding herself, Zesshi complied.

* * *

Tsaindorcus flew in silence as he ended his magic, he was exhausted now, the cost of using wild magic was great but the tremors of the small half-elf on his back let him know that it had at least been worth it.

He had taken some manner of pity upon the girl when she killed her father and had thought of some way of soothing what was clearly her primary drive for an uncountable number of years.

Her mental state had deteriorated long before they began their flight, her pain visible and he resolved, at last, to do for her what another had done for him a very long time ago.

He had placed her to sleep as soon as she climbed atop him.

However, he knew that she would have to face her own demons, and for now it seemed she had finally found some manner of peace.

He flew for some time, circling overhead in the clouds as the child began to slowly regain her senses.

He could feel warmth return to her, the connection his magic had established allowing him to feel that her heart which was in utter turmoil was now soothing itself, calming at last.

'_I wonder what it is she is seeing right now?'_

He recalled his own experience in that dreamscape, of his long-departed father, and smiled.

* * *

Frode caught sight of the Windflower's Bravo unit commander looking over in his direction.

The man was clearly a professional, Frode could feel his hawk-like eyes surveying the entire formation as they moved, and he relaxed somewhat knowing someone like that was providing overwatch for them.

He had met Rockrik a number of times during operations, he knew him to be an extremely ambitious man. He took his job with all manner of seriousness that impressed and at time even worried Frode himself.

But caution was very well welcomed in his eyes.

Rodrik gave a slow salute and Frode in response, returned it, riding past the vigilant scripture and looked onwards towards the rest of the marching group.

He watched as the rearguard made a slow advance into the Sorcerous Kingdom and a measurable amount of worry filled his mind as they left the relative safety of the Theocracy.

In truth, this entire campaign worried him, he found he was constantly on edge as they marched, never truly feeling as if he could allow himself to be at ease.

He had faithfully served in the holy army for a long time, starting his career as nothing more than a rebellious, wayward soul looking to find something to sate his hunger for adventure.

Frode began his career early as a simple foot soldier, being tasked with the worst jobs within a marching group.

Washing the company laundry, ensuring the horses were kept in proper health, preparing camp, and generally doing the majority of the required menial work.

His hard work ethic and luck had let him quickly make it through the ranks. He achieved a small company sergeant position in a few short years. Frode, with his own small contingent of men, carried out the more covert missions for the larger bulk of his brigade.

His dedication and commitment to his job led him to be commended several times for achieving what some would regard as impossible missions and his unwavering dedication for those soldiers placed under him led to his people developing a trust in him that many other commanders could not even hope to match.

After fifteen years of service, he was promoted to the rank of commander. He was entrusted with the full might of a brigade and tasked with overseeing the eastern front pressing against the Abelion hills, defending against the bulk of would-be Beastmen invaders.

These campaigns gave Frode the reputation of being both calculating and civil, having policies in place to ensure those who surrendered were not mercilessly slaughtered, at least this was true when he was present.

Frode knew of his nation's outlook towards lesser races. He understood the sacrifices humanity needed to make in order to ensure their dominion and the completion of the goals set for them by the Six Great Gods.

But years of war had led him to understand that fundamentally, there truly were no differences between themselves and the beasts they fought.

Frode could see that in the end, everyone was just trying to survive. True, he had met some truly horrific killers, those elves, Snakemen, Ogres, or Bafolk who simply relished the spilling of blood in others, but he had met just as many humans who delighted in the same. They were no different in his eyes, all of them lost to their blood lust, drunk on the power they possessed.

However, this understanding did nothing to curb his dedication to his service. While he could even sympathise with those he was ordered to defend against, he knew why he stood the line. He was reminded of it every time he held his daughter's hand. It was instilled in him with every moment he shared with his wife.

The peace they enjoyed was not wrought without sacrifice, without death, and he would reap as many lives as he needed to ensure they were kept safe from harm.

And thus, this was why he was so concerned with this march.

For perhaps the first time Frode was truly, deeply, and absolutely afraid. Every instinct in his body told him this advance, this so-called war, was a huge mistake.

When the description of the Sorcerer King was briefed to him, he could feel his heart physically sink, simply hearing the manner of creature it was made him shudder in primal fear. But when this very same being had called for a parley with the upper leadership, he had hoped that perhaps this peace they enjoyed would be sustained, even with the very enemy of all life as their neighbour.

If it meant the avoidance of war, Frode was prepared to do just about anything.

However, when the word was sent that the Theocracy was going to strike at the Sorcerous Kingdom while their king was away defending another nation, he found himself in a hard place. He found no honour in attacking a neutral nation, even one ruled by the undead, and he found it even more degrading doing so when their fellow humans were being set upon by the largest invasion force of Beastmen ever recorded.

Frode had always advocated for greater help to the Draconic Kingdom, a secure border in the East would mean greater security for them.

But each time his suggestions were ignored, for one reason or another. However, he knew it was only a matter of time before the Draconic Kingdom fell permanently and it would be the Theocracy's own forces defending against the Beastmen to the east.

Though admittedly, he had hoped for more time.

The marching came to a stop as the forward column sent the order to halt. An order to move into battle formation was sounded as a forward detachment of the command officers left the ranks.

Frode was confused as he thought they had more time before they reached the city. He also understood that the Black Scripture had been sent as a forward party to take the city before they arrived. Should they have failed, this operation would quickly change to a siege, something he knew they were not at all prepared for. They had no information on the current layout of E-Rantel, their most detailed renderings were years old and did not account for the absurdly powerful undead that supposedly stood guard over the city.

Thus he resolved that if an order for a siege was relayed he would fight or have them pull back until a better tactical decision could be worked out. He had no intention to let his men die fighting creatures they could never hope to defeat.

While he ran scenarios in his mind, a magician quickly made their way towards him, running at a full sprint from her forward position with information.

He raised his head as she came to a halt and asked,

"What seems to be the problem?"

Before she could proceed with formalities he cut her off to inquire what information had to report.

"Sir, we felt... the release .. of a massive… amount of magic… just a few moments ago"

She huffed between deep breaths before continuing,

"There seems to be a dimensional lock on our position."

His mind spun into high gear, Frode was not talented in magic, but he understood its tenets well. He had learned early on that with the versatility and power of magic, lacking sufficient knowledge in it was a fool's gambit.

"Can we disrupt it?"

"No, sir."

His eyes narrowed.

"Nothing we've done so far has worked, even higher tier divination magic doesn't seem to be working."

She must have guessed his next words as she quickly added,

"But, we are trying to get in contact with the component of the Windflower Scripture we passed here, perhaps they can do something from the outside."

He sat quietly for a few moments, then replied,

"Good, continue your attempts at reaching them, move closer to the main column, and continue your efforts of breaching it there."

If this was a trap, he had no intention of allowing his forces to be caught unprepared and scattered.

As the mage began her trek back to her unit, a scream ruptured the air, disturbing the many working soldiers and silence quickly descended upon the entire area. All eyes turned towards the front of the marching line.

Frode narrowed his eyes as he held bated breaths, hoping desperately to have been mistaken before a second, blood-curdling shriek assaulted his eardrums.

'_Shit!'_

Years of command kicked in and he quickly sent orders to organise his troops, the worst thing that could happen right now was panic. If he failed to rein in his soldiers before fear did, then this situation would only get worse for all of them.

"Shields out, defensive positions, Harch!"


	34. Chapter 33

**AN: Hey lads, this one was a fun one to write and I hope it reflects, I'm really excited to get more into the action, and noticed I'll need a bit more than my original goal of 35 Chapters. As such, I'll be writing until the story is done, so I can make sure everything is properly explained, any loopholes closed, and throw in some good detail in there. If you're not already, try getting with all of us on the discord to beta read the next chapter as it write them, help edit, and generally hang ou. Likewise, this was edited by the great work and tireless efforts of The Usual Gand of Drunken perverted Idiots. Please leave a review and PM me if you have any individual questions.**

**Chapter 33**

Luka felt his hands straining as he held his sword tighter and tighter, he ignored the growing sharpness in his palms as nails dug deeper into flesh. The feeling gave him some manner of comfort and security. The added courage bade him to only grip onto the thing tighter as if the weapon would be pried from him should he relax for even a moment.

He swallowed dry saliva as his eyes bore straight ahead with his large shield obscuring everything save for what was important.

He had been ordered to march in the centre of the massive army, guarding some of the critical resources and valuables.

He was overly ecstatic about the position.

For some number of years now he had been put in rather... horrible positions.

The series of misfortunes began some years ago when he had been selected as the head of an advanced scouting unit for a raid on a snakeman village.

The initial infiltration had been successful but their positions had been compromised when a member of the three man team tipped their presence to a few sentinels keeping watch over the village.

Luka had no qualms about leaving the other men behind as he fled quickly from the place.

Yet rather than being reprimanded, the information he had gathered had allowed the raid to be successful and his efforts were extensively praised.

However, that success drove his superiors to think he was some god-sent ranger and he had been placed again and again on unsavory and often terrifying scouting missions.

There were even rumours about discussions among the higher ups of recommending him to the Windflower Scripture.

Years of his life being placed in harm's way came to a head when he learned of this movement and he had initially dreaded the very idea as he believed he would be among the first to have to come to this horrible land of the undead.

But as luck would have it, the Windflower Scripture were already scouting the area and he was relieved of scout duty. Even better, he was placed in charge of leading a small security detail over the army's resources and standard war gear.

He couldn't believe his luck at first.

He knew he was close to another promotion or reassignment and needed one more good mark on his record before his life became a lot more prestigious. And here it was.

He was nestled in the middle of the marching order, flanked by capable warriors and essentially given a free pass to be promoted if everything went well.

Luka's outlook on life was beyond optimistic.

But all that changed in an instant.

Luka's eyes scanned the area like a crazed drunkard.

The sea of people made it relatively difficult to see everything that was going on but he knew something must have gone horribly wrong. Line officers were screaming orders left and right and soldiers were running around trying to get into positions.

He tried to calm himself thinking of the best possible scenario, that they met a small resistance and would simply fight in the open field.

That meant should anything happen, he had plenty of space to run.

The thought comforted him somewhat and he again swallowed worry and tension.

Before long however, that idea was ripped from him.

In the midst of the preparations and confusion Luka heard screaming.

Not the scream of a man rushing to war, ready to rip his enemies apart for the glory of the six.

No.

This was much more primal.

This sounded like a soul calling out for salvation when facing complete damnation.

The sound assaulted his mind and from within him, something carnal in nature arose. His level of anxiety skyrocketed as his blood began pumping, his heart speeding up faster and faster as the sounds of abject fear began getting closer.

Very quickly he saw a form galloping at full speed his way.

The small fat form of the army's leader, General Revu, sat atop the steed.

Even from this distance, Luka could see the man's eyes. They were trained directly in front of him, his singular focus apparently set on running as far away from the front as possible. As he came closer and closer into view the slob's contorted facial features were on full display.

He made no effort to stop his horse as he ran in a straight line, causing soldiers to rush out of the way to clear a path, and as he drew his way towards Luka a blue object came into view overhead.

Luka had no time to even register the object as it snaked its path in the sky and completely tore into the General.

The object, a blue spear made seemingly out of light drove itself home deep into the back of Revu, its massive size enough to completely tear his torso in two. The spear made its way through the horse's neck, severing the beast's head as it ran. While Revu's bottom half was glued firmly atop its back, the top half of his body continued with its initial momentum, flying in an augmented arch through the air. His remains were spraying blood, viscera and intestines everywhere before it landed squarely against Luka's shield.

The thud drove him from his shock as he slowly pointed his eyes downwards, moving his shield to find the bloody stump of his former commander's torso laying directly before him, his blood seeping down slowly from Luka's shield. Following the line of the body Luka stared directly into the open eyes of the General, the pain of his death had yet to fully register in the man's eyes, and his mouth twitched as if trying to speak, yet his eyes still focused on running away.

For an eternity he stared into those eyes, and watched as the light faded from them until all that remained was the dark abyss of death, and as Luka gazed into it, it gazed back, driving insanity into him. His mind, no longer able to process the events, snapped and his body twisted to and fro as he let out a bestial scream.

Luka's mind cared not to remember any of the events as he began to run,

Unable to tear himself away from the surrounding events, he failed to realize his comrades had already fallen into pandemonium, completely disregarding all manner of form or pretext and running for their lives.

As he had been slow to awaken from his shock, he failed to build enough momentum to keep with the crowd now stampeding around him and he was knocked over by a blurry running form and he lost his balance.

Now crawling, he tried his best to stand before a foot pushed him down, and another, and another, and another. The weight of all those men crushed his diaphragm.

He struggled to breathe as his body told him to run, to get away from here as quickly as possible.

All attempts to rise were met with failure as his own countrymen crushed him against the foreign soil.

He felt more pain as a broken rib bore itself deep into his lungs, and what little labored breathing he could manage quickly became impossible.

Still he persisted, hoping to rid himself of this nightmare.

His futile struggle was answered with more feet, more pressure and more pain.

His left thigh bone cracked as a heavy boot found ground atop of him.

His forward hand, hoping to find some manner of grip, was stomped and his bones broken, the pain nothing to him now.

A wayward sword, discarded by the fleeing mass bore itself into his side and split him open.

As blood ran down from his many wounds, he felt more and more feet trampling his already failing rib cage.

Finally he gave way as his body could no longer support the weight of hundreds of soldiers and Luka physically burst, his pent up pain radiating from his body as organs spread out from his compact form.

With the last lights of life, Luka felt regret.

For accomplishments let unattained.

Heights he would never be able to reach.

He felt regret for the family he was leaving behind.

The future he would never have.

Death finally found him as his head was crushed under the heavy foot of an unknown soldier.

* * *

Jon's short stubby legs burned as he reached speeds he could have never dreamed possible for him.

His body was, to say the least, lacking in many physical aspects, he knew this to be true, but Jon Gusche Vil Snow was one of the most prolific mages the Slane Theocracy could field.

Outside of the Scriptures, he knew he had very few rivals, and as such he had almost volunteered for the vanguard positions when this expedition to crush the heretics in E-Rantel was announced.

His confidence in his abilities was not unfounded. Before the age of 14 he could easily cast 3rd tier magic, and by the time he was a grown man he was close to being able to cast spells of the 4th without the aid of magic items.

He had been a devout man his entire life, such was expected when one is graced with the great gifts from the gods. And as such, Jon made sure to always place their needs and wishes above all else.

Throughout his relatively short military career, Jon had yet to find a single challenge worthy of his talents.

His holy magic was so powerful that he could clear an entire tomb of the undead by himself, even being a weak bodied magician he had both speed and power when casting.

This, coupled with his high recommendations from the temples, had allowed Jon the freedom to do almost anything he wanted.

And why should he not, he was blessed by the gods.

Favoured among humanity.

Until now.

Nothing prepared Jon for the carnage that was unleashed. There was no possible preparation that would have been anything other than an exercise in futility.

Being towards the front of the marching order, Jon had almost lazily dismissed the running officers, before a hellish wave of killing intent blasted into him.

His sensitivity to magic had given him the split-second advantage of quickening his gait before the others noticed the magical miasma of death coming towards them.

As he backpedalled to begin his run, the very spot he left exploded, a small puddle of red coloured fluid spread across the ground and into the open mouth of Jon as he examined the location.

The body had been pulverized by the sheer force of the impact, its features far beyond human anymore.

The shock took no time to hit him, and his legs took no time in turning tail. Whatever could do that to a person was likely beyond his power, and in truth, he had no wish whatsoever to test his abilities against the holder of such abilities.

Jon's legs glided him across the mass of people, his lungs inhaling and expunging air in a manner that would have baffled even the most trained of warriors.

Each wayward second, his hearing would catch small whispers of the pandemonium that was surrounding him.

He cared for none of it.

He had one goal in mind and one alone...

'_Survive'_

That instinct drew from him every fibre of strength his little body could muster, and so he fled, at least he believed so.

Jon had made it not even 200 metres before hearing the howls of what sounded like wolves behind him, a dark coloured creature flew past him in a blur of speed and pounced on an unsuspecting soldier running ahead of him.

The shocking scene had lasted no longer than a second. The thing ripped the poor man to shreds before he could even register it was upon him, his insides exploding across the air as Jon made to run past.

The man's blood coated Jon's cheek as he kept running, now crying as he called upon even more hidden strength from his body to flee from this horror.

No longer caring about anything save himself, Jon ran for what seemed like years, tuning out the world around him before quickly starting to see spots of black in his vision.

'_Damn it, no!'_

Despite his rush of fear, his body had its limits.

He strove to push further, faster, farther away from here.

But his legs tripped him up as he tried to keep running and he stumbled, crashing headfirst into the ground.

Only after trying to crawl away did he realize how wrong he truly was. He had been so slow that no one else was near him, the rest of his vanguard was either dead or had long since overtaken him.

He panicked as he realized he was alone among a sea of corpses before growling came from behind him.

Jon bolted around like a small startled animal and faced three large black monstrosities.

The things had blood-red eyes and every hair on their bodies were black as if ripped from darkness itself. Each of the creatures released a formidable magical pressure and their singular focus was now trained upon the lump of flesh that was Jon.

They snarled hungrily as they closed in on him, pieces of flesh hanging from their ravenous mouths, blood still fresh upon their claws.

However, before he could pray for deliverance, the gang of killers ran past him, minding him only for but a moment before they sought out other prey to devour.

Jon's heart lifted for only a moment as he thanked the gods, he shut his eyes as they grew wet with tears.

And then he heard the sweet melodious ringing of a girl's laughter.

The incongruous sound jolted his eyes open as he came face to face with the very incarnation of terror.

Before him, standing not inches from his face was a short creature with blood-red eyes.

Its mouth was a gaping maw of sharp teeth and loose dripping flesh.

Its hair, slick with dried blood, shone with the silver hue of a clear moonlit night.

It clutched the head of some poor fellow in its hand and with a strength his heart could not bear to contemplate, crushed it.

Brain matter and blood spilled from the now mangled appendage and Jon's face contorted as he withered in abject fear and panic.

He tried to backpedal from the scene as a powerful hand gripped his face, a long, blood-soaked tongue licked across his petrified expression as the creature closed its eyes and seemingly relished in his fear.

It tenderly pulled its hand away before its eyes shot open and the monster spoke.

In a voice both unbecoming of the situation and the very image before him, it said...

"Run little piggy, hehehe."

...

His whole body relaxed as he defecated and soiled himself, the shame of such a thing completely lost on the man as he bolted from his position.

Jon ran for what seemed like miles, yet every time he believed he could go no further, behind him a chuckle would hint of the fate that awaited him should he stop.

Fear and dread pushed the little fat man beyond his limitations, his heart, already pounding from extreme exhaustion and prolonged use could no longer support the pace and activity and finally burst.

Jon felt it first in his chest, the rupture was painful. Indeed, it was beyond painful, but he had to keep going, he had to run away.

Then it spread throughout his body.

First his legs began to weaken as new blood ceased its continued relief, then his knees gave out and he fell helplessly to the ground.

Minutes passed as he crawled along the ground, desperate for a single metre more.

His vision blurred as his brain was deprived of blood, his lungs slowed as he laboured to suck in even a single breath more.

His desperation was heightened as he felt a presence behind him, even in his near-death state, his instincts still clung to life.

A shadow loomed over him as the creature reappeared beside him.

If he could tell what the creature felt from its expression, it would have been pure glee. It trembled with delight as it watched him slowly degrade and begin to leave this world.

And he fully expected it to end him.

Crush him with its might.

Rip him limb from limb.

However…

It simply uprighted itself.

And walked away.

Leaving the man to die a slow, painful death.

There would be no grand death for the magician, no horrible mutilation, or honourable last moment.

Jon's eyes darkened, the light fading quickly as he was literally scared to death.

* * *

Shalltear understood that simple shock and awe tactics would not give her the sort of satisfaction and pleasure she sought.

In the past, she would have been more than happy on simply massacring each and every single one of these insects present before quickly moving on to return to her master's side.

But time, experience, and the rarity of this event gave her pause. Likewise, she had also grown, Lord Ainz had taught her the value of patience and Aura, the value of careful calculation and strategy.

And in this closed environment, she sought to employ all these teachings to her advantage, not only to test herself, but to impress the greater whole of Nazarick.

Shalltear began her strategy by quickly displaying a fraction of her true might, to scare and kick the humans into a frenzy. The initial phase was a success and she delighted in the available stock of blood that she now had.

However, she was also quite looking forward to the completion of this little game.

She knew that some among their numbers would give her quick immediate satisfaction and she was not disappointed, the small fat man and a few of the first officers she encountered satisfactory in helping her sate her blood lust enough to let her maintain her reason for the remainder of this present from her master.

As much as this was fun, it was also a test, one she imposed upon herself to ensure she could effectively complete this task with all her faculties in check.

For now, she would wean away the weak among the humans and allow the remaining individuals the honour of dying by the hand of the strongest floor guardian of Nazarick.

Shalltear released her household to hunt down all the low-level fodder while she playfully danced around the carnage, picking off some stragglers and generally enjoying herself among the death and blood.

Each moment was bliss as the massive army was culled to acceptable numbers.

She estimated now little more than sixty-five thousand remained from the original number and to their credit they had already somehow mustered enough courage to begin making a concerted defence.

Shalltear carefully analysed the situation before deciding to unleash the full might of her household upon the defenders.

She sat quietly away from the action so as to observe the situation while sipping generously upon the enormous pool of blood she had collected, savouring the flavour of men and women basked in glorious fear.

Towards the rear of the once formidable army, there was a wall of heavy front liners protecting a brigade of magicians and other such long-ranged specialists.

They released wave after wave of firepower towards her attacking forces in a display of careful drilling and years of practised dedication. It was impressive for such weak creatures and she found that she had to impassively continue creating some of her household once they fell.

The so called battle was going rather boringly for her tastes. However, her household was further reducing the number of weaklings as they pressed the defences of the Slane agents further.

Shalltear carefully judged the scene with an ever-growing eye for tactics. She had spent countless hours with Aura learning how to analyse various situations to her benefit in order to better serve their master.

The leaders of the ragtag group of survivors seemed rather competent. They understood that this would hold off the wave of vampire beasts and so carefully rotated their forces to reduce damages even further, likewise, Shalltear had already been notified of how they had attempted to send a small party to try and escape the area, and after obviously failing to find a means they returned.

The fact they had enough to try scouting possible areas of retreat let her know they did not completely think they could win the fight or at least believed retreating was the better option and while she commended the thought, she had hoped they would heroically stand against her forces to the last man.

She continued looking onwards at the scene and grew pleasantly surprised by a change.

It seems the tactic was altered after retreat was deemed impossible, the front liners gave way to an initial wave of capable melee fighters who through number and grit risked close-quarters combat with her household.

The relative level of her familiars was low, nothing at all impressive by her standards but she watched with a curious eye as weaker individuals tactfully disposed of her army. She chose to not immediately revive the familiars so as to give the humans hope.

She smiled wholeheartedly at the change in pace as it now played into her scene, a stupendous wave of glee rushed forward as she saw her machination came to bear.

'_I wonder if Lord Ainz feels this way when his grand plans come to fruition.'_

Shalltear reflected on the wave of euphoria and smiled thinking she was growing closer to her lord by this exercise.

In her mind she had already somewhat broken the pitiful creatures' spirit with her initial strike, instilling fear amongst those who witnessed her attack. She had also guessed they would try to run from her forces and when that failed, she would allow them time to muster some form of resistance and planned to let them succeed in gaining momentum. The light of hope would spark quickly and their invigorated spirits would give way to greater hope.

When that hope reached its zenith...

Well, then it would truly be tantalizing for the bloody Valkyrie to utterly crush that budding spring of life for these rodents.

And so Shalltear bided her time, watching carefully as the humans fought tooth and nail for every inch of ground with exhaustion, fear, and the possibility of their victory filling the air.

* * *

Frode slashed downwards upon the mass of black substance as it dissipated, he tried to assess the conditions of those who had converged with him to battle the large bat creature before being beset by another.

"Commander, you have to withdraw."

A hand shot out and gripped the back of his uniform before throwing him backwards.

The soldier, a large man in his early thirties closed the opening which had been created and engaged the new creature.

Frode cursed the man and tried to rejoin the battle before another individual appeared beside him.

The hand holding him at bay was coupled with a formerly regal outfit, it had hints of tarnished gold and white outlining covered with dirt, sweat and blood.

He looked upwards towards the individual to find a stern-faced lieutenant angrily looking back at him, her eyes displaying both anger and small bits of understanding and respect.

She stared him deep in the eyes as she spoke.

"We need you to coordinate the defences sir, you can't die here."

He bit his lip before he could respond, taking a split second to calm himself before nodding his head and reluctantly moving backwards.

Leaving the scene he heard loud grunts of effort all around him, men and women fighting desperately to gain even an inch of ground.

Frode oversaw the rugged formation and pinpointed areas of weakness and areas of greater stress.

He began shouting reorganization orders as he tried to close gaps within their ranks and hit the enemy as hard as possible.

He knew now, with the idea of retreat beyond them, that time and their training were the only allies they had left.

He concluded that they needed a small reprieve in order to begin a proper counter-attack. Remaining on the defensive would have been a mistake and would have only served to tally more deaths and lower morale.

Thus thanks to quick decision making from his trusted aides and new information they were able to quickly reorganize into a more aggressive attack focused force.

Deciding to focus on a physical push in conjunction with the rotations helped in giving every area of the resistance a small rest in between bouts.

The short time allowed the magicians to regain even an ounce of stamina, gave healers the ability to fix minor scrapes and bruises on the front liners, and archers time to prepare more arrows.

The tactic was working but Frode called for a push from the reserve of soldiers who had been holding the line in various positions. If they could buy as much time as possible it may be possible to end the threat altogether.

The push was successful in only calculated measures. The creatures were hindered more than anything but it would allow his magicians even more time to recover.

He relayed his orders to the magic corps to unleash a massive wave upon the collection of dark heralds once they had sufficient power. At that moment when it ended, they would rush with a greater force than before and try to eliminate the creatures before they had time to recover.

The "moment" lasted longer than he could imagine, each second feeling dragged out as they fought for every scrap of ground and paid for it in blood and lives.

Frode clung on to the hope of success before he heard the combined chant from the magicians.

A massive white light shone as they unleashed the holy fury of the six upon these dark apostles, he closed his eyes, unable to bear the intensity of the light any longer.

When he finally felt the sting of pain fade, he journeyed a peak, a smile accompanying what laid before him.

The blow did its job.

Recognizing the opportunity, those offensive fighters still capable rushed forwards to divide the new stunned enemy and destroy them with overwhelming numbers.

Frode looked on with ever-increasing anticipation as more and more of the creatures were killed, none coming back to refill the spaces.

Now only several hundred remained as his soldiers continued to decimate the things.

Hope budded quickly as thousands of people began to believe once again.

It did not take too long before the last remnants of the force was being dispatched, Frode raised his arm in assured victory.

While his heart did not allow him to speak those honeyed words, those around him could see the end result as well. Small cries of hope sprang from around the area.

Their salvation was at hand and a cheer slowly formed from the remaining soldiers.

The sound crescendoed as more and more people screamed at the evaporation of long-held fear and anxiety.

Frode's own eyes closed in silent relief but only for a moment. He began to think about the critical matters in this instance. The number of capable fighters they had remaining. The amount of armour, weapons, and supplies they had left and what percentage could be salvaged from the dead around here. How would they transport those who had fallen and most importantly, how to deal with the magic keeping them confined in this space.

Already feeling pressure from the insurmountable task of surviving his mind was struggling to find some way out of this mess. They needed more than anything else to leave this accursed land before anything worse came to bear or reinforcements came from the enemy side.

He tried his best to tune out the cheering and celebrations for a few moments and contemplated walking towards the rear while some of his officers took a tally and accounted for everyone when a sound ripped him from his internal contemplation.

At first he believed it was his mind playing a trick on him again, he desperately hoped that to be the case.

However, he had learned once already that nothing of the sort could be true in this situation, but even so he hoped to convince himself of the fictitious nature of what he had just heard, believing it to be nothing more than battle fatigue.

However, before he could disbelieve his senses, he turned and waited with the rest only to see an entire group of warriors on the right-hand flank fly backwards, a blue light coursing through the space and carving massive holes in the middle of their bodies.

The twenty or so people in that line of fire all died, some suffering more than others. A lucky few had been completely beheaded, their lives flashing away before they could think of what had happened to them.

Some others were less lucky, only portions of their lower or upper halves being disintegrated, and the resulting pain sending them into convulsions as blood began to spray everywhere.

Frode's eyes vibrated softly as he struggled to believe what he had just seen. He clenched his jaw tight, whirling his head left and right as he eagerly sought out from where the attack had come from.

And in the confusion that followed this scene, another out of place laugh reverberated throughout the plain.

This one froze him to his core, it was almost cute in how jovial and innocent it sounded, and that discordance only made the sound more cold and menacing.

Frode's heart sank as a shadowy figure came into view some metres away from the front lines.

His slightly higher position allowed him to see the hunched-over creature slowly waddling towards them.

It seemed to be shivering somewhat, and if it had been some helpless animal he would have thought it was seeking shelter or warmth.

But his heart knew the truth, those were tremors of joy, glee from what he presumed would be a nightmare for them.

"Fffall.."

His voice gave way, unable to process the state he was in.

Biting hard upon his cheek to overcome the immeasurable fear, he yelled for all his men to regroup.

"FALL IN!"

The shout broke the veteran fighters from their daze.

However, it also alerted the creature to who was in command, he felt it's eyes land upon him, and with something he could not believe to be joy, it looked away, almost waiting for the command to be carried out.

The thing seemed to be in no hurry as the frontliners and tankers took their positions, this time no one remained in reserve, no one dared to presume they had the luxury when facing whatever this was.

Some of the magicians had worse luck however, they were unable to bear the weight of the magic coming from this creature and needed to be blessed before they could join the formation.

No longer than when all the preparation was done was the order to attack given.

The full might of the Theocracy was unleashed upon the single target, waves of holy fire erupted as flame magicians poured their hearts into the largest of their spells.

Pillars of blinding light descended from upon high, as lightning streaked and the air danced.

Such was the ferocity of the blows that a torrential downdraft of air blew even the mightiest of heavy tankers back.

Frode in his position among the rear of the group felt the awesome wave of power and destruction wrought by the fear, hatred, and passion of his soldiers.

And in the depths of his heart, he dared to hope.

Completely exhausted of all strength, magicians fell one after another, expending all of their reserves of power upon that single attack.

No sound was made as they all watched with bated breath as the massive fire burned. Around it, the earth was scorched completely black for many meters.

Minutes passed with no activity. Yet all onlookers kept their gaze fixed upon the torrent of fire slowly coming to an end.

Before it could completely disappear, a hellish wind blew the magic fire away.

Frode's hopes were once again completely dashed as he took in the sight before him.

Gone was the horrific, ghoulish creature and replacing it was something he would consider to be far worse.

The "Monster", clearly female, now sported deep, blood-red full plate armour, the craftsmanship was beyond divine, as two feathery avian wings protruded from behind her. A silver plume stylishly hung from her helmet and a long tube-like contraption snaked its way from the back of her armour to the massive spear she held in her right hand.

The weapon looked like something a god of war would wield, it bubbled with a kind of horrifying power that Frode had only ever felt when he had met one of the members of the Black Scripture and examined their equipment in close proximity.

This, however, was far worse, he was leagues away and still, the sheer force of her strength was evident to even him.

In the midst of her grand entrance the creature spoke.

"I am Shalltear Bloodfallen, Floor Guardian of the Great Tomb of Nazarick and loyal servant to the last remaining Supreme One, Ainz Ooal Gown."

The words were beautiful to hear, her voice and face almost carved out of a dream, yet that beauty was a stark contrast to the absolute terror she inspired.

"In my recognition of your struggle and strength, I will offer you a warrior's death, I will employ no magic, and face you all at once. I urge you all to give it your all as I offer your lives for the glory and pleasure of the Supreme One."

Frode recognized no hesitation in her voice, no sense of the possibility of her defeat. It was not arrogance that drove her words, it was a complete and utter surety that she would triumph.

She moved like a storm wind and began decimating the defending forces.

To their credit, those magicians who had regained some manner of strength tried to rekindle the magic effort they had placed in the initial attack. Yet none of it so much as touched the winged fury as she tore her way through the remaining enemies.

Frode's eyes widened in complete disbelief of the spectacle, he could tell she was enjoying herself, that this was no true effort for her and the pace she was employing was simply for her own sake.

'_She wants to enjoy it all,' _he thought with a feeling of utter horror.

Some men had clearly come to the same conclusion as he saw a few drop their weapons and fall to their knees.

The girl gave no quarters as she swept her way through the ranks,

Strangely enough, Frode felt nothing at this scene, he no longer held any fear, no importance to try and lead, he noticed some of the other officers, grasping closely to life as they tried to battle her rampage, yelling commands and making efforts to organize a proper attack.

But Frode felt no obligation to help anymore, he simply watched from atop his horse.

Memories of his wife and daughter trickled slowly into his mind as he watched more and more of his men die.

He thought to himself amidst the chaos, of the little secrets he held with his beloved, of their hopes and dreams for when he finally retired.

The lakeside cottage visit that had become a tradition for his family some years back.

The son he hoped to father once they could get blessed by the church.

The first time his daughter had mentioned a boy in his household, and how he reprimanded her for so long as his wife laughed.

The moments brought a small tear to his eye, a smile plastered upon his face as the life he lived slowly unwound itself before him.

He could no longer hear the tormented screams of the front liners, he could not even see the terrified pleas of the magicians or the clerics praying desperately to silent gods. No, he could not live in that moment.

He waded softly amongst the chaos for what may have been years, the number of people no longer mattering, the events themselves a distant dream of a nightmare he had long forgotten.

But as he waited patiently for death to take him...

It never did.

The battlefield had begun to lull as Frode's eyes cleared from his delusion.

The occasional scream of terror was proof of the fact that it was real, yet he remained. His horse, trained beyond reason had stood its ground, its feet so stiff it could not even hope to move.

Frode's now lucid expression gave way to confusion, he surveyed the environment slowly, the entire scene was dyed in a red hue, and the land was darker than he remembered. His broken mind paid it no mind as he continued to examine the land before his eyes fell upon the bloody Valkyrie staring back at him.

She was seated upon a mound of bodies that seemingly reached towards the heavens as if spitting upon the face of the gods with her throne.

Her eyes held a playful gaze, as if she had been waiting and watching for quite some time. She opened her mouth and a stream of red liquid made its way into her mouth, she licked her lips as it did so, though no spill was had at all.

It was then Frode noticed the massive orb of red above them.

The thing was flat, suspended in the air above him by unseen magic and cast a massive shadow over the battlefield.

The sun fought desperately to pass its light through the wavering mass of blood and so coloured everything around him red.

The scene represented what he believed the worst hell to look like, the bodies of his trusted soldiers lay broken, dismantled and drained of life around him, pained faces of his peers cascaded past his eyes in this hellscape and it only deepened the madness growing within the man.

Frode ravenously looked around him as more and more faces seemingly glared back at him, more and more of the dead judging him for his cowardice and he screamed an unearthly scream, his mind now completely broken. He sought to flee from this as he scrambled off the horse.

He fell powerlessly to the ground, and quickly found himself facing the open eyes of the Lieutenant who had urged him to keep fighting, her eyes dark and soulless as she gazed deeply into his own.

His now streaming tears did nothing to avert her gaze and Frode made efforts to escape the judgement.

In the midst of his display, he heard the laughter of that cursed woman, her joy evident in his expression of pain, but something new came with it.

He heard the deep baritone chuckle of a man.

Frode slowly righted himself to peak in her direction before confirming the existence of another individual now alive in the world of death he was trapped in.

The man was dressed impeccably in a manner that reminded Frode of those who lived deep to the south. He had dealt with their kind once in the past and while this man's dress was similar, the rest of his appearance was far too foreign.

The thin mirrored glasses hid any hint of his eyes and reflected the world as if it was viewed from his perspective. He was tall with a slender astute frame and carried himself with a dignity and posture that exuded confidence beyond measure.

He said something inaudible to the girl, causing her to puff her cheeks before beginning to walk through the scattered corpses over to him.

His casual attitude about the red armoured woman terrified him, and his even more casual gait instilled in Frode the understanding that there was nowhere to run.

Aeons passed as the man slowly crept his way to the broken husk of Frode, seeing him closer now Frode could notice the craftsmanship within the clothes the man worse, the neat slicked-back hair, and most importantly, the massive silver pronged tail protruding from the back of this creature.

Now only a small distance away, Frode could feel the man's eyes boring into him as the man towered over him.

A silent moment passed before a small sinister smile caused Frode's body to start shaking uncontrollably and finally, the "thing" spoke.

In a smooth, charming voice, it called out to its companion by name.

"If you don't mind Shalltear, I shall be taking this one."

It looked back at Frode and adjusted its glasses, exposing two massive crystals where its eyes should have been.

"He'll be perfect help around the farm."

_An:(last bit is for Ulbert, youre a devilish genious, pun intended)_


End file.
